3386 The Zoologist — February, 1873. 



to be an immense flock of wild-fowl, and I saw similar flocks upon several 

 occasions towards flight time, but could never get within range." — P. 26. 



However, notwithstanding this mystery and disappointment about 

 ducks, Mr. Shelley was very successful in his shooting in the Delta, 

 and obtained several species he did not meet with afterwards : he 

 gives a list of these as a guide to other ornithologists. 



" 1. Aquila imperialis, Imperial Eagle. 



2. Circus aritginosus, Marsh Harrier. Far more abundant in adult 



plumage in the Delta than elsewhere. 



3. Scops gill, Scops Eared Owl. Tolerably plentiful near Alexandria. 



4. Centropus agyptius, Egyptian Lark-heeled Cuckoo. 



5. Alcedo hengalensis, Small Indian Kingfisher. 



6. Acrocephalus stentorius. Near Damietta in March and April. 



7. Calamodijta melanopogon. In the same marsh through the year. 



8. Chettusia leucura, Whitetailed Plover. 



9. FJiynchaa capensis, Painted Snipe. 



Bittern, spotted crake, many kinds of ducks, gulls and terns. Among 

 the common English birds which are likely to be met with south of the 

 Delta, are the blackbird, robin, stonechat, linnet, chaffinch, goldfinch, rook, 

 starling, golden and gray plovers, and water rail." — P. 27. 



We have no interviews with crocodiles from beginning to end of 

 the volume, but reliable evidence, if such were required, that they 

 still frequent the Nile, and strong presumptive evidence that 

 they occasionally make a meal of a juvenile native. 



" As we ascend the river we come to the perpendicular rocks of Gebel 

 Aboofayda, which rise precipitously out of the water: this is a good 

 locality for meeting with the crocodile : and here during my last tour Lord 

 Ducie killed one, which, on dissection, proved to contain in its stomach all 

 the ornaments of a native child." — P. 44. 



I make the next extract to show that the supposed species into 

 which Sylvia suecica has been divided by the greater or less 

 amount of rufous colour on the breast must be abandoned: the 

 note on its habits, confirming as it does Captain Hadfield's 

 observations on a specimen in the Isle of Wight, is very interesting. 

 The passage also will remove the prevalent notion that Sylvia 

 suecica is peculiarly a northern species. 



" This is an extremely abundant species in some parts of the Delta, and 

 is very generally distributed throughout Egypt and Nubia, especially in the 

 damper localities, or where the vegetation grows to the height of several feet. 



