380 
Letters, Announcements, fyc. 
up one of the Bat's wings which it had dropped. So far as 
I know, this Bat-catching propensity of the Sparrow-hawk 
has never before been recorded. 
The trees round this same lake in the Esbekyeh garden 
were frequented by numerous large Fruit-bats, which began 
to move about half an hour after sunset, and which I never 
saw elsewhere in Cairo, or in any other part of Egypt. 
This fact, although not exactly ornithological, is not alto¬ 
gether devoid of interest, for I fancy that the presence of a 
Fruit-bat in Egypt has escaped the notice of most recent 
travellers in that country. 
The Red-breasted Goose, Bernicla ruftcollis, is not now found 
in Upper Egypt, and, with the exception of one specimen ob¬ 
tained by Mr. Stafford Allen at Alexandria, I do not know of 
any instance of its having been seen anywhere in Egypt in 
recent times. I was therefore much interested in finding 
this species accurately and repeatedly represented in the 
tombs of the kings at Thebes, the figures of it being carved 
in the limestone walls of the tomb, and accurately coloured, 
so that there can be no doubt whatever as to the species 
intended to be represented*. 
I left Egypt on March 24th, and went direct to Athens, 
where I stayed ten days. The ornithological fact that 
struck me most at Athens was the great number of 
Ravens, Corvus corax, in and around the city. They 
roost in the precipitous sides of the Acropolis, and may 
be seen flying over the town all day, but more especially 
towards evening. Returning home one afternoon from a 
drive to Eleusis, I saw, just before sunset, at least thirty or 
forty Ravens all together, flying round a rocky hill about two 
miles from Athens, on which they no doubt roosted. Never 
in any country have I seen the Raven so abundant as at and 
around Athens. 
Yours, &c., 
E. Cavendish Taylor. 
* [ Cf , Yarrell’s Brit. Birds, ed. 4, vol. iv. p. 284. —Edd.] 
