into a strip with relatively copious vegetation. This strip, which is in 
most areas usually less than five miles wide but locally may penetrate 
further south, is present all along the northern Egyptian coast from Libya 
to Alexandria, and after interruption by the luxuriant irrigated farmland 
of the Delta, resumes in the northern Sinai. 
A typical cross-section such as at Burg El Arab and Bahig consists of 
four zones (Figure 1). The northernmost zone is a sandy beach 100-200 
yards wide sloping up to grassy dunes and a rock ridge (Figure 5). The 
second is a wider (700 yards) flat zone of dry, open desert fig groves, 
tamarisk bushes, and scattered Bedouin homes (Figure 2). The third is a 
broad salt bed with Salioovnia lying between two rock ridges, representing 
an old beach when sea level was higher in the past. The salt beds are 
mostly dry but locally there is standing water, the remnants of former 
freshwater lakes in classical times. The fourth is a flat area of small 
villages and gardens with low olive, almond, carob, tamarisk and Australian 
Pine trees, and locally small fields of sparse barley that grow during the 
winter rains but are parched by summer (Figure 3). This last zone merges 
gradually into the true desert (Figure 4), although irrigation canals from 
the Aswan Dam project are beginning to alter the terrain and locally extend 
the area of irrigated agriculture. Quail were trapped mainly in the grassy 
dune and fig zones while most of the bush - and tree - frequenting species 
were taken in the garden belt. 
Birds were captured by Bedouins in a number of nets and traps and with 
bird lime. Quail tend to hide at the base of a fig tree and most of the 
trees have nets (Figures 5 and 6). Huge numbers of quail are taken each 
year, and being a particularly tasty and meaty species, command premium 
6 
