From the top of Cheops I saw two species of 

 Hawks soaring beneath me, Long-legged and Desert 

 Buzzards. A pair was flying about the Second Pyra- 

 mid and a few years ago their eggs were found on that 

 great monument. 



Two small desert birds, garbed in sand colored plum- 

 age were Cinereus Skylarks and Isabelline Wheat- 

 ears, both keeping in loose flocks. Not far from the 

 Sphinx we saw a little drab bird with a reddish tail, 

 known as the Rufous Warbler, although it is really 

 first cousin to the Nightingale. All these birds had 

 good need of sharp eyes, for their insect food was 

 cloaked also in desert garb. 



On the train from Port Said to Cairo one was hard- 

 ly ever out of sight of birds. The caravans of camels, 

 or smaller camels harnessed to water buffalos and tuff- 



o 



ging at primitive wooden ploughs were attended by 

 wag-tails and even sandpipers on the lookout for in- 

 sects or worms exposed in the furrow. Hooded crows 

 were scattered over the few green fields and near the 

 moist spots. In one place I saw a man prostrate on 

 a bit of carpet, his slipers by his side, praying toward 

 the east, and a flock of Lapwings was scurrying close 

 about him. Kestrels hovered here and there over the 

 fields on the watch for grasshoppers and once a beau- 

 tiful little metallic green Kingfisher flew past. Doves 

 were everywhere. 



One of the most wonderful sights in Egypt was the 

 waters of Lake Menzala, a few miles south of Port 

 Said. To the naked eye, the surface was covered with 

 myriads of black dots, while half a mile from shore 

 there seemed to extend a long line of breakers, pink- 

 ish-white in color. The glasses resolved the dots into 



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