Captain John S. Reeve—Some Birds in Egypt and Palestine 125


in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor. One Mourning Chat was on

Tutankhamen’s tomb, and one near the Assouan Keservoir.


When motoring through the desert on the Pyramids-Fayoum

road, I saw another Chat which might have been the above or Finsch’s

Chat. Not being familiar with these Chats or able to handle them,

I found them very difficult. Nicoll gives twelve (Enanthe as occurring

in Egypt, Palestine, etc., the majority of which might be difficult

to distinguish from each other in the field.


I only saw one Stonechat, at Chakchouk, and one or two pairs of

Black Redstarts were about the Heliopolis gardens on the edge of

the desert.


A few Bluethroats ( occidentalis ) were at Chakchouk, very Robin¬

like in their movements.


Swallows (Egyptian form— Savignii) were near Cairo, at Chakchouk,

etc., and the little Crag Martins at Sakhara Pyramids and up the Nile.


A flock of Swifts (Egyptian form— Pallidus) were over the Citadel

at Cairo, some at Chakchouk, and were seen south of Cairo to Assouan.


The Little Green Bee-eater was plentiful at Chakchouk, and appeared

to be so in all suitable places from Cairo to Assouan.


Hoopoes were common everywhere, including Heliopolis and the

Cairo Zoological Gardens. At the former I saw one and a Kite sitting

on either side of a dome above the main street. Curiously enough

I never saw one of these birds with crest erected. The Pied Kingfisher

was everywhere on water, from the Delta to Assouan inclusive ; it

was very pretty to see these birds hovering like a Kestrel, but with

head bent down between the outstretched wings at right angles to

the body. Not having seen Nicoll’s statement (p. 337) till afterwards,

I unfortunately did not note the nearest station to which I saw a

European Kingfisher from the train window ; I estimated it was about

seventy miles south of Beni Suef !


At Chakchouk one could get quite close to the Lark-heeled Cuckoo

as they skulked in the foliage of Palms, etc. ; a good plate of this bird

is given in Nicoll. I saw two or three Rose-ringed Parrakeets flying

about in Cairo Zoological Gardens (see Nicoll, p. 347).


A Little Owl was in a palm grove on the west side of the Nile, south

of Helouan and one in Luxor temple and I heard one in the temple of



