70 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
Tombs of the Kings. Its song, as far as I have 
heard it, is distinctly pleasant ; Captain Shelley calls 
it “but an indifferent song,” which is severe, as it 
is a happy little rippling series of true lark-like 
notes. It has a good mixed diet, animal and 
vegetable, hard grain and soft blade of growing 
things. When the weather begins to get warm you 
will often see this lark, as you may many other 
birds, sitting with its mouth open as if gasping for 
breath ; that this isa sign they do feel the heat is 
certain, but I do not think that it shows they are 
suffering from thirst, for in the cultivation they 
always have water all round them in the little 
canals that run everywhere through the crops, and 
if they were thirsty they could very soon quench 
it. When on Lake Menzaleh, just on the very 
limit of Egyptian soil and Mediterranean Sea, I 
came across many taking a last rest on the sand- 
banks before migrating, and was very struck with 
their altered bearing. They were shy and timid, 
never allowed a close inspection, and flew away in 
hurried fashion. This was in the early weeks of 
April. 
