377 
1921 .] Birds of Lower Egypt. 
185. Cursorius gallicus gallicus. Cream-coloured Courser. 
A few pairs are resident on the edge of the cultivation 
near Abu Zabaal, and also near Marg. Their numbers 
increase in August and September, when flocks of up to 
forty-five have been seen. These contained a percentage 
of immature birds. At all seasons they are inclined to be 
gregarious, and I noted the fact that they flew considerable 
distances at a regular time, about sundown, to feed on the 
camel-thorn patches which occur on the edge of the desert. 
There they consumed enormous numbers of small green 
caterpillars. Throughout my stay the same line of flight 
was always used with a surprising regularity. I spent more 
time looking for eggs of this bird than for any other species 
—and never succeeded. In 1916 I shot a bird of the year 
in August. In 1917 Captain W. Bigger and myself caught 
a young bird about a fortnight old, which was feeding with 
the adults on the edge of the desert. In 1918 Lieut. D. Paton 
discovered a pair of chicks about a day old. I saw these, 
and they must have been hatched on a patch of gravel about 
half a mile out in the desert. This was on 13 May, and two 
days later I located yet two other lots of young birds in 
similar situations. With these dates to work on I had hopes 
of finding eggs in 1919, but unfortunately the riots and my 
departure from Egypt prevented my doing so. I never 
met with more cunning and wide-awake birds, and as 
their breeding numbers were so small, finding their eggs 
was a difficult proposition. I saw young Coursers about a 
fortnight old on the desert at the Wadi Natrun on 24 May, 
1918, and have little doubt but that it breeds on the edge of 
the desert both east and west of the Nile. 
186. Giareola pratincola pratincola. Common Pratincole. 
Major F. W. Borman found the red-winged form breeding 
near Sidi Salem in 1918. 
On 29 May hard-set eggs and young birds were found by 
him on a piece of waste ground, Sidi Salem is in the Delta 
near the coast. The clutch appeared to be two or three. 
[At Inchas on 28 April and 3 May, 1909,1 shot specimens 
2c 2 
