192 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
limestones of which they are formed seem to have 
weathered and perished more than in other parts, 
and honeycombed masses, and caves large and 
small, are visible everywhere on its nearly perpen- 
dicular sides. It is in these caves that birds have 
found a happy nesting-ground, and the extent of 
the deposit of guano in them shows that they have 
inhabited them for centuries. 
The guide-books tell of these high cliffs—‘sudden 
gusts of wind from the mountain often render great 
precaution necessary in sailing beneath them”; and 
on the last occasion of passing there was evidence 
of this, as a regular gale came on us just as we were 
passing and drove us along at a great pace. ‘This 
wildness is similar to the wild windiness of the 
sea-coast, and the Cormorants may in this fact find 
some attraction to this inland home. But I should 
think it is far more likely still, that the founders 
of that colony were birds that had been reared 
in some of the other breeding-places that exist in 
the great Salt Lakes of Lower Egypt, and that 
by some chance taking to the river, which at 
Menzaleh would not be more than a mile or two 
away, found that the river fish were excellent, 
that life was pleasant, and the cliffs suitable for 
safely nesting in. “Stomach rules the world” is 
