THE BIRDS OF LOWER EGYPT. 55 
state of the organs had quite recently laid; one male, with very 
large testes, was very fat, a condition which, in my experience, 
is not at all common in breeding birds of any species. When 
disturbed during the day the flight is slow and flopping, and, as 
a rule, not long; in fact, one when flushed flew into some tall 
reeds near by, and settled near the top of the stems, about 
twelve feet above the water, where it assimilated well with its 
surroundings as it sat ‘‘sideways’’ on the stem and “‘ drew 
itself up.” At dusk this species ‘‘ flights” apparently to its 
feeding-grounds, and it then flies quite quick and straight, the 
beak being prominent and the neck bent. At no time did I hear 
any sound uttered. This species was also met with at Inchas, 
in the Delta, on May 2nd. 
68. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.).—I only saw this bird in the 
Giza Gardens where a well-known flock of varying numbers are 
to be seen resting by day on some bushes in the Pelican Pond. 
At dusk the flock ‘‘flights”’ out to its feeding-grounds ; for a 
few minutes the air seems full of them and their noisy ‘‘ squawks.”’ 
Their numbers seemed to diminish during my stay, for on May 
13th I only saw ten to twelve. They are nearly all immature 
birds in spotted plumage, and out of forty individuals counted 
there was only one adult, but Mr. Bonhote tells me that there 
are plenty of adults there in winter. This “‘ flighting’ of Night 
Herons was noticed by Cavendish Taylor at the same spot many 
years ago (‘Ibis,’ 1896, p. 481). 
69. Ciconia alba, Bechst. — Four seen at Inchas, on the 
edge of the Arabian desert, on May 2nd, and seven were 
seen passing high over the Sakkara Pyramids, going north, on 
May 12th. 
70. Phenicopterus roseus, Pallas.—A flock of about a hundred 
were seen flying over Lake Mariotis on May 14th, and some 
Arabs, from whom I bought three freshly shot immature birds, 
assured me that they breed on the lake, and described accurately 
the nest and ege; however, I had no time to investigate the 
breeding-ground. I saw five adults feeding by the northern 
shore of the lake on May 18th. They were some little distance 
from land, but as the lake is nowhere deep there must be few 
places within half a mile of land where this bird could not stand. 
These immature birds, which I think are twelve months old, 
