modern ornithology. Indeed it is not wholly neces- 

 sary to do so, for the mummified remains of creatures 

 include many species of birds, and other organisms 

 from crayfish to monkeys. The most famous bird 

 picture of ancient Egypt is a frieze of three species of 

 geese, Red-breasted, Bean and White-fronted, ex- 

 quisitely drawn and colored by some artist who lived 

 about the third or fourth dynasty, over six thousand 

 years ago. Such accuracy may well make us blush 

 when we consider the chaos and confusion of modern 

 international ornithological nomenclature. 



The few notes I offer were made during a stay of 

 five days, from February 3rd to 8th, at the base of the 

 great pyramids of Ghizeh, with short excursions 

 about Cairo, and a twenty mile trip on dromedaries 

 to the tombs at Sakkara. 



The variety of bird life in the Province of Ghizeh 

 during the year is shown by a recently published list 

 of over two hundred and fifty species. I observed 

 only thirty odd during my brief stay. These may be 

 roughly grouped in four divisions; birds of the city 

 and villages, of the desert, of the irrigated fields, and 

 of the ponds and water courses. 



Of the city birds two species were abundant and 

 tame, the Yellow-billed Egyptian Kites and the 

 Hooded Crows. Both were scavengers, although 

 with nothing of Vulturine appearance about them. 

 The Hooded Crows were also common all over the 

 cultivated parts of the country where their diet was 

 more normally corvine. Both species bred in the Ghi- 

 zeh Zoological Gardens where protection had ren- 



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