SIX MONTHS’ BIRD COLLECTING IN EGYPT. 227 
193. GARGANEY, Querguedula circia (Linn.) ; 
“ Arraeh,” 
Was first met with on the 1oth of April, and not far from 
El-Kab, the same place mentioned by Captain Shelley. 
Between then and the end of the month several were shot 
in the plashes of water which are left by the receding Nile. 
They were evidently on migration. The males appeared 
to be going off in plumage. 
The young Garganey is just the colour of a young Teal. 
It differs from it in having no speculum, and the neck and 
bill are both rather larger. Yarrell gives 16 inches as the 
length of the Garganey, and 143 for the Teal, but persons 
not versed in ornithology would be sure to confound the 
young birds. 
194. TEAL, Quergquedula crecca (Linn.); “Charchir.” 
I cannot understand how this can be called the most 
abundant Duck in Egypt—vide “Shelley’s Birds of Egypt,” 
p. 286. We found it particularly scarce, only shooting 
three couple all the time we were in the country; yet I do 
not mean to say that my predecessor has been guilty of a 
mistatement respecting it. The explanation probably is 
that the Orxis of Egypt is peculiar, and birds which are 
common one season are scarce another. When observers 
are multiplied in that advancing country, and we can take 
the mean of many observations, we shall arrive at the truth. 
195. WIGEON, Mareca penelope (Linn.); “ Sarvai.” 
We saw the Wigeon in the markets at Alexandria and 
Cairo, but I should have reckoned it one of the rarer Ducks, 
had we not seen so many on lake Menzaleh. When we 
