76 BRITISH BIRDS. 



among quantities of tired little Willow- Wrens and other 

 small birds, but a resident told me that in the previous 

 autumn he had seen a Red-backed Shrike take and eat 

 a small bird, in one of the trees in his " patio." 



We had several instances both in Port Said and at 

 sea off the Egyptian coast, of birds on flight striking the 

 rigging, all in daylight. One can readily understand 

 such a thing occurring in the dark, but when one 

 considers the wonderful command of wing that must be 

 possessed by birds like Starlings, Ducks, Waders, etc., 

 which fly and turn with great rapidity in close formation 

 without ever colliding — the inability of these migrating 

 birds to avoid the ropes suggests diminution of wing 

 power arising from fatigue as being the cause. True the 

 birds damaging themselves thus were mostly Quail, but 

 we had other species as well — a Willow-Wren and a 

 Whitethroat for instance. 



In the early morning of November 3rd I liberated a 

 Sky-Lark, caught by the wing in spiders' webs among 

 tall bulrushes, and in the afternoon of November 8th I 

 found a Sky-Lark fluttering along the ground a few miles 

 south of Port Said, with one scapular broken, and a very 

 badly bruised head — evidently by a collision — as the skin 

 was intact. 



In considering to what extent the gregarious habit was 

 affected by the various species passing through Port 

 Said I have been chiefly influenced by observations 

 made during the halt in the day-time ; owing, it must 

 be admitted, to lack of sufficient data during the flight. 



Certain groups, such as Larks and Finches, undoubtedly 

 both arrived and halted in parties, not necessarily of the 

 same species, but I cannot be sure that the Turtle-Doves 

 and Shrikes, which seemed to rest and feed in scattered 

 bands, actually travelled in like manner ; on the contrary, 

 I am under the impression that, in their case, one or two 

 at a time was more usual on flight, and that a mixture 

 of species travelling in company was the exception, 

 rather than the rule. 



