450 
BIRD-LIFE. 
its protector takes down the box from the tree, so as to 
lift up the lid and have a look at the pretty little creature ; 
the Swallows feed their young in his presence without 
the slightest hesitation, and the nestlings peer out of the 
nest, looking so good, innocent and trustful, that it 
is a pleasure to behold them; the Stork greets the 
approach of his benefactor with a snapping noise of the 
beak. 
The Arabs are hospitable, and have, indeed, been so 
from time immemorial. Cairo was founded because the 
Caliph’s general, Abd-Allah-Omahr, would not allow his 
tent to be struck, on account of a Turtle Dove having 
built its nest in the roof of the same, and the young being 
unfledged, just when the General wished to advance! 
I have remarked, that in Arab houses Storks and Swallows 
are not the only birds which are looked upon by them 
with a favourable eye, but that all birds brought up 
amongst them show the utmost confidence in their 
protection. The Egyptian Vulture, which the sportsman 
finds so difficult of approach in Europe, patrols the towns 
and villages of Upper Egypt and Nubia without fear: I 
have seen one pick up a bone which we threw it, from 
before our tent-door, quite unconcerned. Eagles perch on 
the trees near the gates of the towns. The Kites (Milvus 
parasiticus ), those confirmed beggars among birds, nest on 
the minarets and palms in the midst of the hamlets. The 
Kestrel and the Blackwinged Kite frequent the gardens, 
and do not offer to quit their nests, even when the 
gardener is picking fruit close by. The Little Owl, as 
does the Hoopoe, breeds in holes in the walls, about the 
height of a man from the ground. The Bee-eaters await 
their prey on the trees of the village, under which the 
children are playing. The Kingfishers of the Nile digest 
