Bird Notes from Port Sudan.



71



winters. Perhaps it is his winter plumage, but under a field-glass

all the feathers of his breast appear tipped with grey. *


Everywhere round Port Sudan the country is salt, sandy, and

without vegetation, except where a khor brings down soil from the

hills. It is in these dry water courses that one gets glimpses of

bird-life that are interesting, nay exciting. A beautiful little Bee-

eater, suggestive only of a Swallow but with chestnut orange sides,

sipping honey at the pink blossoms of the wild caper, is a sight not

readily to be forgotten.


But the true desert birds are quiet in their colouring and

wonderfully adapted to their surroundings. First among them for

interest is the little Finch Lark. The male is striking in the curious

arrangement of his colouring. Breast and underparts are jet black,

cheeks white, hack wings and tail mottled sandy colour. It is only

when flying overhead that he can be appreciated, on the stony ground

the bird is invisible.


A beautiful bird and a very common one in the khor is the

Bush Shrike. He flies about en famille during the winter and

breeds in June in a thorny bush. Nesting sites would be hard to

find if he did not want a thorny bush.


The male has a brilliant and irregular carmine marking all

down the breast and a touch of the same colour at the base of the

tail. The hen bird has considerably less carmine to relieve the

sandiness of her plumage.


Another bird always to be seen in the khor is the Desert Chat.

He certainly is the smartest bird imaginable with his black face and

wings, and behaves very much as a Stonechat does at home, taking

up a position on the topmost twig of a bush from which to watch

proceedings.


These few notes cannot close without some mention of the

Egyptian Vulture as he is one of the commonest of birds, and may

be seen by the score in the desert, round a pool after a shower of

rain. Their short tails and slow walk give them a curiously fowl¬

like appearance, so they are well-named Pharoah’s chickens.



* The Blue Rock Thrush has a much more powdered appearance after the

autumn moult, the feathers of the head becoming purer bluein the spring.—ED.



