372 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 92 



driving their flocks of sheep and goats toward bleak stretcher 

 of land that show no signs of herbage, and farther away the 

 caravans of camels are taking up their daily march. All is 

 of interest ; but the truly wonderful sights come while pass- 

 ing Lake ]\Ienzaleh. Embankments only a few rods in width 

 separate the Avaters of the canal from those of the lake. I.ate 

 in the afternoon of December 24 this portion of the voyage 

 was taken, and a morning view was secured from the car 

 windows on February 2. The other two passings were made 

 in the night, to my great regret. Among the first birds to be 

 seen were White Pelicans in groups, ranging in numbers 

 from four to nearly or quite a hundred. These were near 

 enough for identification, but it was impossible to say what 

 were the large white birds in the distance that literally cov- 

 ered the mud flats until they looked as if covered with snow. 

 There must have been acres that were thus occupied. Equally 

 impossible was it to tell what species of ducks and of shore- 

 birds were crossing the sky, " like a cloud of smoke," as one 

 passenger described the sight. Common Fleron could be iden- 

 tified, and in places Flamingoes. The latter in one place 

 standing in a very long line looked like a row of pink rushes 

 beautifully reflected in the water. Various outlines could be 

 distinguished of birds too distant for a stranger to feel posi- 

 tive regarding their identification. Amid such surroundings 

 the sun, glowing like a ball of fire, appeared to drop into the 

 lake. The afterglow on sky and water made a panorama of 

 beauty with its manifold shades and tints of color that was 

 well worthy of several pages of print or yards of canvas. 



Aside from the multitudes seen on Lake IMenzaleh the 

 journeys on the Suez routes did not yield many bird sights'. 

 Small birds too far away to distinguish their markings were 

 seen, also members of the Corvidae that must have belonged 

 to some Raven species. There were seen a few Black-headed 

 Gulls (Larus ridihundus) on each of the three visits to the Ca- 

 nal. In March the head of one of these birds was beginning to 

 show dark feathers. (On the previous day at Alexandria the 

 changino- color on crowns could be detected on numerous of 



