394 Notes from Mesopotamia. 



times as much silt as the Nile. A human being cannot see 

 half au inch through Tigris water, and yet we frequently 

 saw both Cormorant and Kingfisher emerging from the river 

 with fish. One Shag (P. graculus) was seen near Tekrit. 

 It was a very old bird, and I was very surprised to find this 

 species so far east and so far from the sea. 



The Common Heron [Ardea cinerea) was seen everywhere 

 in suitable localities. A large flock of Spoonbill [Platalea 

 leucorodia) was seen feeding on some mud flats near Samarra, 

 and in the marshes near Amara large quantities of Glossy 

 Ibis [Plegadis falcinellus) could be seen feeding and flying 

 about in the evening light. 



During the voyage up the Tigris at the end of Dec. 

 1913, no White Stork (^Ciconia alba) was seen, but on the 

 return journey we first met with it at Samarra on Jan. 27, 

 when two were seen sitting on the golden dome of the 

 mosque at that place, whilst on Feb. 2 large numbers of 

 these birds were noticed in the marshes of the lower Tigris. 

 They apparently nest in numbers in Mesopotamia, and there 

 are few mosques or minarets without a Stork^s nest on it. 

 In Mosul this was particularly noticeable, whilst even 

 Jonah^s tomb at Nineveh was not considered too sacred for 

 an enormous pile of sticks and rubbish. 



There is probably no place in the world where wildfowl 

 of all descriptions congregate in larger numbers during the 

 winter months than in the marshes of the Tigris and 

 Euphrates. On the former river, a vast expanse of reed and 

 marsh on either bank is sometimes black with duck. In 

 the middle of the day many thousands of unapproachable 

 geese can be seen sitting on some island sandspit or on the 

 flat edge of some expanse of water, whilst in the evening 

 the air is alive M'ith duck and teal flighting in the decreasing 

 light, and skein after skein of geese wend their noisy way 

 to their feeding grounds. 



Among the Anatidse identified were : — 



Grey Lag Geese {Anser ferns). Plentiful. 

 Common Sheldrake {Tadorna camtta). Three seen. 



