8 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
throated warblers were hopping about the few 
bushes at the edge, and ever and anon flitting 
down to the ground and back again to the leafy 
shelter. 
The question is asked and asked, but no very 
distinct answer comes, why are the birds so tame 
in Egypt? I am ata loss to know myself, for the 
land teems with foxes, jackals, kites, vultures, 
eagles, falcons, and hawks without end, all with 
an eye to business, ever circling round ready to 
devour any unprotected thing they can lay claws 
upon, and yet this seemingly utter fearlessness 
of all these mild-natured, defenceless little birds. 
Further, here in Egypt are perhaps more “demon 
boys” than are to be found elsewhere, and I hold 
firmly with the ancient sage, who said “that of all 
savage beasts the boy is the worst,” so that the 
tameness of some of Egypt’s birds is one more 
mystery of this land of mysteries. 
In the following pages I have almost entirely 
spoken of the particular birds pictured in the 
illustrations. I am quite prepared for the question, 
however, “ But why did you not include such and 
such a bird?” and my defence can only be the old 
one of the difficulty of settling various person’s 
ideas of what should be considered the best 
