52 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
and digs out a hole in the soft sides of the Nile 
bank. In some cases it burrows back two to three 
feet before it widens out the chamber in which 
the nest is made. I do not know that the bird 
is in any way persecuted, but it is not beloved of 
the people, as they accuse it of eating too many 
of their young fish. Visitors who do not like their 
muddy Nile fish do not see any great offence in 
this, but I can quite see the matter from the 
native’s point of view, and am a little astonished 
that it has been allowed to increase and multiply 
as it has. Last year, each evening, something like 
thirty used to roost on the chain cable of Mr. 
Davis’s dahabeah, moored just opposite Luxor. 
Where they all came from was something of a 
mystery, as, though you would see one now and 
again on that reach of river, you would never 
be able to see anything like that number; yet 
every evening in they used to come, and after a 
rather excited noisy discussion settled down to 
roost for the night. 
A most interesting thing in this bird is its 
singular habit of hangig in mid-air, above the 
water, on the look-out for fish. Although I 
have said fish, it is certain it must take other 
creatures than fish, for I have often seen it, not 
