G. H. Gurney—Notes from Assouan



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hotel garden and the adjacent public garden. They are not particularly

tame, and I do not think they have started breeding yet. They are

very fond of sitting or walking on the hard garden paths ; one narrowly

escaped a terrible death from venturing too near a monkey chained to

a tree, the Dove got away, but minus all its tail feathers !


From my bedroom balcony I can watch with my glasses a pair of

Hooded Crows constructing a big untidy nest in an acacia tree not far

away. For the last few days while I have been laid up with a cold,

this pair of birds have kept me amused by their breeding proclivities,

love-making and squabbling alternatively. I have taken a large

number of daily notes, which really one day might work up into a not

uninteresting paper. They are, of course, very common here and always

amusing to watch. One of their enemies is the Greater Spotted Cuckoo

and the Crow’s nest I have under observation appears to be haunted,

more or less, by one and sometimes two of these birds. Whether the

Cuckoo is parasitical on the Crow I am not certain without a reference

book, but the manner of the former, anyhow, looks very suspicious.

Greater Spotted Cuckoos are not as common here as they are at Luxor,

but still appear to be evenly distributed. They live a great deal in the

sont trees, and as you pass in your motor they fly out, but always two

or three at a time. I have never seen a single one. They are very fine,

handsome birds, and would, of course, make ideal aviary birds, only

the food question might cause difficulty. I believe here they feed

almost entirely on various caterpillars in preference to small lizards,

but there should be no great difficulty in getting them on to a suitable

food in captivity, though I do not remember ever having seen one,

even at the Zoo. By far and away the most noticeable, as well as the

most beautiful of the birds at Assouan at the present time, is the Little

Green Bee-eater which swings like a jewelled pendant from a telegraph

wire or from the end of a spray of acacia, and when two or three dash

off at the same moment to seize some passing insect, the sun reflecting

on their green and gold plumage, they look like some gigantic sun-bird.

They are resident here the whole year round, but the Blue-cheeked and

European species all join them on migration. They have a weak little

note, something like “ cheer-wit ”, which they constantly utter.


Among other noticeable birds which haunt the hotel garden are



