110 



THH OOLOOIST 



The Sand Martin (Cotile riparia) 

 exists in countless thousands in all 

 of Upper Egypt, and the banks of the 

 Nile for miles are honeycombed with 

 holes for their nesting sites. This is 

 like our own Sand Martin. There is a 

 smaller one in Egypt, as well as sev- 

 eral other swallows and swifts, but I 

 failed to identify them certainly. 



An exceedingly common and most 

 charming bird, seen everywhere in the 

 Nile valley, is the White Wagtail 

 (Monticilla alba) and said to be one 

 of the smallest birds that both walks 

 and runs. They deserve their name, 

 for they always give the tail a jerk 

 upward after alighting as also at other 

 times. Their motions are quick and 

 lively, and they seem to be all the 

 time in pursuit of flies. It was one 

 of this species that I saw on our 

 steamer, while crossing from Africa 

 to Southern France. At that time we 

 were 200 miles from land. It was with 

 us at least 100 miles further, and ex- 

 pect it spent the night on the vessel, 

 reaching shore at Monte Carlo in the 

 morning. The list of the birds of 

 Egypt has three other Wagtails. 

 They were the Gray Wagtail, (Monti- 

 cilla boarula) and the Blue Headed 

 or Yellow Wagtail (Montacilla flava). 

 The first deserves the name of White 

 Wagtail. I saw more of them in Pales- 

 tine and Syria. One of the Yellow 

 Wagtails, with five other birds, was 

 with us on the steamer Berlin the 

 morning after leaving Gibraltar for 

 New York. It was about the ship till 

 nightfall, 400 miles '' ii land, but did 

 not see it after, bu< aort-toed Lark, 

 was with us the nv.^t day when 701) 

 miles from land. 



Of 20 Larks and Pipits credited to 

 Egypt, but few of which I identified, 

 will mention but one, the Crested 

 Lark (Galerita cristata). This bird in 

 point of numbers probably exceeds 

 that of any other in all Egypt, for 



they are most exceedingly abundant 

 everywhere. While the general plum- 

 age is grayish brown like a dweller 

 of the desert, its lofty crest; spright- 

 ly ways and sweet warbling song, 

 made it my especial favorite. While 

 we would consider it too small for a 

 game bird, it is netted and trapped in 

 great numbers by the natives to be 

 used as food. 



Throughout all Egypt the Weather 

 (Saxicola oenanthe). Stone Chat 

 (Pratincola rubicola), Robin (Eritha- 

 cus rubecula), Nightingale (Philomela 

 luscinia) and the Starling (Sturnus 

 vulgaris) were often seen. Of 100 

 other small birds. Warblers, Sparrows, 

 Thrushes, etc., part were determined, 

 but I can say little of interest about 

 them. So I only mentioned one, an 

 old acquaintance, the English Spar- 

 row (Passer domesticus). I found it 

 over Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey 

 and Greece, as also at Naples, Monte 

 Carlo, Algiers and Gibraltar, in fact 

 every place visited except the island 

 of Madeira. Being non-migrant, the 

 remotest islands of the sea are the 

 only places that are safe from theii 

 intrusion, though I must say that I 

 nowhere saw them so plentiful or in 

 such large flocks as at home, and con- 

 clude that something operates to hold 

 them in partial check. 



Egypt has eight doves, and while the 

 Rock Dove (Columba livia), Schini]i- 

 er's Pigeon (C. schimperi). Turtle 

 Dove (Turtur auritus), Sharpe's Tur- 

 tle Dove (T. sharpii), and the Egyp- 

 tian Turtle Dove (T. senegalensis), 

 are all common, the last in beauty and 

 abundance seems to lead them all. It 

 is also called Palm Dove because it 

 nests in and is always found about the 

 numerous groves of date palms. Its 

 pretty color of pinkish-brown, umber 

 brown, with a touch of pearl gray and 

 black, looking in sunlight like bur- 

 nished metal, with its charming ways 



