33$ TRAVELS IN UPPER 



on that naked portion of the leg above the knee ; 

 this is, according to Buffbn, encircled with red, 

 but in the coots which I have seen this circle was 

 yellow. These birds are fat in general, and their 

 flesh is tender and well tasted. 



I likewise found a quail, which I killed. It was 

 not usual to see them at this period ; it was the 

 only one in the canton through which I roved. It 

 is in the month of September that the passage of 

 the quails commences on the coasts of Egypt. 

 They then assemble themselves, more peculiarly 

 in the sandy island which divides the mouth of the 

 Nile near Rossetta. But I shall have occasion to 

 return to the subject of the truly wonderful pas- 

 sage of these birds. 



The fields which had just been stripped of the 

 crop of rice were filled with snipes*. They were 

 there singularly numerous. A huntsman of Ros- 

 setta brought us one day a basket-full of these 

 birds, which he had killed with a gun in the course 

 of a few hours. For my own part, I killed a 

 dozen, and missed as many more, in the morning. 

 This is pleasant sport, because you always have a 

 shot, but it is likewise very fatiguing. The light 



* Becassine. Buffcm, Hist. Nat. des Ois. & pi. enlum. 

 No, 883. — Scolopax gallinago. Lin. 



