466 Anatidce. 



met with near Salisbury, and specifies one that for two or three 

 days was seen feeding with the ducks near the river in his own 

 neighbourhood. 



The Egyptian Goose is a splendid bird, and the rich colours of 

 its plumage make it an exceedingly attractive species ; and when 

 seen in a large flock, as I have met with it on the sandbanks 

 and shallows of the Nile, presents as gorgeous an appearance as 

 the most enthusiastic ornithologist could desire. It is a very 

 wary bird, and will not readily admit of near approach, and it 

 was only when sailing with a brisk breeze, and suddenly and 

 noiselessly rounding some corner of the river, that we were 

 enabled to come upon it at close quarters ; but at such times, 

 or occasionally when quiet at anchor in the dusk, we have been 

 in the midst of a flock, and could thoroughly admire the well- 

 contrasted and brilliant colours of their plumage before they 

 took alarm and decamped at their best speed. 



Chenalopex is the modern generic name with which this bird 

 is now often favoured. It is the same as Vulpanser of Herodotus * 

 in a Greek dress, or, as we should say, the ' Fox-Goose,' so called 

 from its living, or rather breeding, in holes. It appears fre- 

 quently on the monuments of Egypt, and is often delineated 

 with great artistic skill. The richness of the plumage and 

 remarkable appearance of this species, compared with the other 

 Nile Geese, would have naturally attracted the early artists. 

 Wherever the colouring has been preserved, we find usually the 

 head and neck painted red, the breast and belly blue, the back 

 yellow, with the tips of the wings red, the tail with narrow 

 lengthened feathers, like the Pintail Duck, which many of the 

 Karnak intaglios more closely resemble. The Goose was the 

 emblem of Sib, the father of Osiris, but was not sacred ; it 

 signified 'a son,' and consequently occurs very often in the 

 Pharaonic ovals, signifying ' Son of the sun.' Horapollo says it 

 was adopted in consequence of its affection for its young.f It 

 has been found frequenting the lakes south of the equator in 

 Book ii., c. 72. 

 t Dr. A. L. Adams in Ibis for 1864, p. 34. 



