Birds by the Wayside 375 



as any true American might give another in Hke circumstances, 

 as dumfounded I reflected that the A. O. U. Check-List 

 made no mention of Eagle Owls. Another glance at the 

 placard went farther and discovered Bubo virginiamis, thus 

 clearing away the mystery. This was the beginning of find- 

 ing our birds renamed in foreign lands, sometimes with 

 freakish results exemplified by our Bluebird labeled as " Blue 

 Robin." No doubt it irks the European to hear us call the 

 House Sparrow " the English Sparrow " — one venture at 

 least toward getting even in the renaming business. 



There is no need that a learned ornithologist, with his 

 specimens side by side, should point out that there are dif- 

 ferences between the Hooded Crow {Corviis comix) and 

 the Indian House Crow {Corviis splendent), between the 

 Parasitic Kite (Milvus cegyptus) and the common Pariah 

 Kite (Milvus govmda), for good binoculars show quite 

 plainly that the plumages of the African birds are not so 

 dusky as those of their Indian cousins. The case of the 

 Egyptian Vulture {Neophron percnoptenis) is not so plain. 

 It bears the same scientific name as does the White Scaven- 

 ger Vulture. If there be differences in plumage and habits 

 they failed to reveal themselves to the wayside observer. As 

 it inhabits other countries on the Mediterranean as well as 

 in Africa the latter name does appear more appropriate. 



For twenty-six days in February, on a similar trip up the 

 Nile and return, another person might make a better record 

 of the birds seen ; however, I did the best I could, yet on no 

 day saw more than twenty-four species, the general average 

 being thirteen, and the smallest number four. When we re- 

 member that part of the journey was in the tropics and that 

 the northward movement for some of the birds had begun, 

 then recall data given in Bird-Lore's Christmas Census, this 

 Nile record appears very poor. There were but four days 

 when a score or more of species were seen; the first of these 

 days we spent at Edfou and up the river to Kom Ombos : 

 the others were February 24, 25 and 26, and were spent at 

 Thebes and Luxor and down the river to Abydos. Longer 



