SIX MONTHS’ BIRD COLLECTING IN EGYPT. 201 
with a winged one. I ought to say that those in Damietta 
were in flocks, but it is clear that they pair early. 
164. AVOCET, Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn.; R. halebi, 
Brehm,; “ Helleby.” 
To have seen Avocets in a state of nature is alone enough 
to repay me for the long journey to Egypt. My first 
acquaintance with them was near Mansourah in the Delta 
on the 18th of January. We had been successful in shoot- 
ing three out of four Teal, and had walked on some way 
when we came to a pond, the mud round which was so soft 
for a considerable distance that it would not sustain the 
weight of a boy. In this secure retreat were a magnificent 
flock of Avocets, and a flock of Shoveller-Ducks. They 
allowed us to come within seventy yards, and then the 
Avocets rose first in a compact phalanx of white and black. 
On another occasion as we were returning from a village, 
we saw six, high in the air, coming towards us from the 
river, but they swerved before we could conceal ourselves. 
I have one or two other entries of having seen them in the 
Delta. When we went up the Nile we encountered Avocets 
for some time after leaving Cairo, and I never could suff- 
ciently admire their gait, their re-curved bills, and their 
black and white plumage. The last shot above Cairo was 
on the 15th of March at Negardeh. It was ina state of 
change. The new feathers which had just come being 
pure black ; the old ones being dull brown. But the most 
interesting fact in connection with the Avocet—Captain 
Shelley having marked it as a winter visitant—was the dis- 
covery by Mr. Russell of a colony at Mareotis on the 19th 
of June, very tame, and apparently breeding.* 
* The Avocet is one of England’s departed glories. “May 12th, 
1839. Aman of the name of Gaffer says the Avocet used to be very 
