Part 10

Where, however, they can be still seen throughout the winter months and comparatively close at hand is on Lake Menzaleh. I saw them there in March, but by the 12th of April I could not see a single bird. The wonderful colour, a pale coral pink, that they show under the bright Egyptian sky, is something of a surprise to those who have only seen faded stuffed specimens in a museum, or the woebegone individuals in a menagerie. No one interested in birds should neglect the Cairo Zoological Gardens at Giza; there you will see all sorts of hot climate beasts and birds in the perfection of condition that they never show in our colder climes. And the colour that the Pelican displays under these perfect conditions is a revelation. To the most casual it appears pinkish, but to the artistic and observant the brilliance of the carmine-pink revealed in the shadows, and the shell-like delicacy of colour of the feathers seen in full sunlight, is simply charming. I regret, however, that no amount of artistic enthusiasm can ever find anything else to praise in its personal appearance, as it really is most desperately ugly. It is said, however, to be virtuous, and is to this day used as a symbol of beautiful self-sacrifice, and as an ecclesiastical emblem of the feeding of the Holy Catholic Church.[7]

[7] I regret, however, to have to write that this idea of self-sacrifice is really all bunkum. The tradition is, that when hard up, and the offspring were calling out for the food that was not, the mother bird would lacerate her own bosom and with her own life-blood feed and save her loved ones. Ages ago some poor, short-sighted man got this extraordinary notion from apparently watching the way the young are fed. The Pelican belongs to an order of birds that disgorges the food it has caught, in this case fish, into the upturned mouths of the young. Had this first short-sighted one only known that the Pelican's Hebrew name Kâath means "to vomit," this bird would hardly have been accredited with virtues it does not possess, or been painted, sculptured, and enshrined in thousands of holy places.

As a child I was much troubled with "the Pelican in the wilderness," but recently have been greatly relieved to hear, on the best authority, that though it says "wilderness" quite distinctly, it doesn't, you know, mean wilderness at all; the ordinary wilderness means a sandy, deserty sort of place, but this wilderness, we are told, means a wet sort of watery place. How nice it is to have these clear explanations from the best authorities of all those mysteries that darkened our early years! The Pelican lives entirely on fish, and is therefore never far from water. Considering its rather clumsy form it is fairly agile, and it has been noted that it can and does perch freely on boughs that bend and swing with its weight when at large, and that in captivity at the London Zoological Gardens one habitually used to perch on the thin corrugated wire fence that bisects their small enclosure, an almost acrobatic feat one would not have expected it capable of performing.

In books the statement has been made and often repeated that the Pelican breeds in Egypt, and my visit to Lake Menzaleh was very much taken just to settle whether it and Flamingoes did or did not breed there. I found they did not, and I should think it is very unlikely that they ever did, as though the lake is large the fact that fishermen's boats go all over it would hardly make it a safe place for these big birds ever to nest in.

THE CORMORANT

Phalacrocorax carbo

Arabic, _Agag_

Plumage dark bluish-black over head, breast, body; dull greenish-brown on wings, each feather margined with a darker tone; a pure white patch on cheeks, and another on the flanks; feathers on top of head elongated and edged with white; beak black at tip, yellow at base; part of the pouch which is without feathers, blue; legs black; eyes green. Length, 36 inches.

This is not a bird one would expect to see far away from the salt water, but there is anyhow one colony of them up the Nile at Gebel Abû Fêada--and any one going up the Nile must pass right by their breeding-place--and the birds in general seem to work rather south of that point than to the north. In March 1908 I saw them twice; once, near Manfalût, a string of six flew low over the water in single file so near that one could with the glass see the very hook at the end of their long bills. Perhaps no point on the river is quite so magnificent as these cliffs of Abû Fêada--the water rushes by their very feet, and their tops tower high in beautifully broken forms. The limestones of which they are formed seem to have weathered and perished more than in other parts, and honeycombed masses, and caves large and small, are visible everywhere on its nearly perpendicular sides. It is in these caves that birds have found a happy nesting-ground, and the extent of the deposit of guano in them shows that they have inhabited them for centuries.

The guide-books tell of these high cliffs--"sudden gusts of wind from the mountain often render great precaution necessary in sailing beneath them"; and on the last occasion of passing there was evidence of this, as a regular gale came on us just as we were passing and drove us along at a great pace. This wildness is similar to the wild windiness of the sea-coast, and the Cormorants may in this fact find some attraction to this inland home. But I should think it is far more likely still, that the founders of that colony were birds that had been reared in some of the other breeding-places that exist in the great Salt Lakes of Lower Egypt, and that by some chance taking to the river, which at Menzaleh would not be more than a mile or two away, found that the river fish were excellent, that life was pleasant, and the cliffs suitable for safely nesting in. "Stomach rules the world" is

as true of bird life as any other. Elsewhere I have referred to the beauty and charm of Lake Menzaleh to all naturalists, and I do really think that to get anything like a complete view of Egyptian bird life a visit ought to be paid to some one or other of the lakes, and of course Menzaleh is far and away the best and biggest. But though I suggest a visit, I would not care to have it understood I recommend it as a health resort or place to live in. I write this here, because there are two considerable Cormorant rookeries or breeding-stations that I visited on Lake Menzaleh--there may be others I did not find, but these two I did find, and they will ever live in my memory as the most poisonous plots of earth I have ever stood on. I have been to Cormorant rookeries before, and well know that they don't smell like rose-gardens. The peculiarity of this great lake is, that it is, and always has been, a great drainage-bed for the whole of Egypt. The result of having been a drainage-bed for all these untold years is that when you stick a pole, or your oar, into the mud and then pull it out, you seem to all at once take the cork out of a bottle containing the most appalling stinks and gases that ever were engendered. One day I was stalking Cormorants on a long flat island of irregular shape, and came to a point where I had to cross about ten or fifteen yards of water. The island was in the middle of the lake, and far away from town or village, and without thinking of consequences I took my boots off and started to wade across. The first step or two was on the shallow shelly shore, but three or four feet and I sank into mud, and as at each step I lifted my feet I let loose ten thousand legions of ancient stinks, the water bubbled and fizzled with them, and even slimy, blear-eyed, unwholesome fish slunk hurriedly away. Reaching the other side, I looked for some clean water to wash my feet, and did so; but it was awkward, as I had to hold my boots and socks in one hand and my nose in the other; but wash as I would the atrocious smell would not go, and I declined to put those evil-smelling things into my boots, and I couldn't take my feet off; so there I was--the whole island was a swamp, couldn't sit down anywhere, all puddles and wet, and the more I dabbled and washed the more it seemed to stir up new combinations of flavours never before conceived. So I shouted and shouted, and at last one of the crew heard, and brought out the small boat and rescued me; most mercifully I had carbolic soap with me, and so managed to at last get clean. The lake is nowhere very deep, but is absolutely full of fish; you constantly see them jumping out of the water for a breath of fresh air, and I don't blame them. The pools have crowds of small fry, and the larvæ of thousands of insects; indeed, it is "a heaven for mosquitoes and a damp hell for men." It is this extraordinary profusion of life bred in the water that causes it to be such a fine feeding-ground for the birds, but everything that comes out of that lake is slimy and smelling. In April, when I was at Menzaleh, the birds had not begun nesting, but there was every sign of quite a big Cormorant colony. I counted the sites of more than twenty nests on one island alone, and I saw Cormorants off and on nearly every day of my two weeks' stay.

Needless to say, the Cormorant is entirely a fish-feeding bird, and usually lives on or near the sea. The fact that a colony has been for so long now established up the river is certainly interesting, and it will be curious to see if these new great water-works do cause any further extension of their area. Mr. Erskine Nicol told me he saw two Cormorants flying down the river in February of this year (1909), at Luxor--one was an adult bird showing a very white head,--and that within his seventeen years of residence he did not think he had ever seen them so far up as Luxor before. The young birds have no pure white on the head, and have the breast a more or less dull greyish-white.

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL

Larus fuscus

Back and wings dark slaty blackish grey; primaries black, with a large white spot on first primary near the point; rest of plumage pure white; legs and gill yellow, latter with a red spot on lower mandible; eyes yellow, eyelids red. Length, 23 inches.

In all probability whenever a gull is seen it is most likely to be this one, as in my experience throughout Egypt it is, I think, the commonest of all. The next in order is the Black-headed Gull, but, unfortunately, in the winter months it is without its black cap, which causes it to escape notice.

The Gulls do on the water what the Kites do on the land--they act as scavengers; and it matters not whether you are arriving at Alexandria or on board a steamer at Assoan, you will, alike from end to end of Egypt, find these birds busy, searching for every scrap of waste thrown into the river, which river is the main drain of the country. The use that these birds are is therefore enormous, and they, in common with Vultures and Kites, ought to be protected and on no account shot. This year of 1909 I have seen more of these three species shot than ever before. The wily native who stalks up and down outside hotels with a gun slung over his shoulder, and seizes on unwary newcomers with great promises of apocryphal quail- and snipe-shooting, frequently--so that his patron shall not come home without any bag at all--suggests shooting every poor inoffensive bird within range. That done, the poor Kite or Gull is borne home, and laid out on the hotel steps for the further honour, glory, and kudos of the native shekarry.

It should always be remembered that the immature birds of most species differ materially from the adult: this is the case with all the Gulls, and, I own, makes their identification a matter of considerable difficulty. In the young there is no pure white and pearly grey plumage, but they are dirty-coloured, brown-spotted, rather uninteresting-looking birds, but as they have just as ravenous an appetite as their parents, and as they satisfy that appetite with the filth that is thrown out of a scavenger's basket, they are fully as useful as the more attractively plumaged adults. Where they can get it, they like fish before anything, be it the sprat of the clear ocean water, or the sweepings of the fish-market. At Damietta, where there is a great

fish-market and salted fish is sent away all over Egypt, the offal from the gutted fish is simply thrown out on to the shore, and work as hard as the Gulls do, they cannot clear all away that is daily added to this pestilential heap. Wherever Gulls come into a scene they add a sort of lightness and brightness to it. This is often felt at sea, where, after days and days of dreary water, at last some Gulls appear and give the needed brightening touch, and wherever they are seen their white wings make a charming point of contrast. Those who know London know what a boon they are to the leaden Thames, and even in sunny Egypt they are a welcome addition to river scenery.

THE BLACK-HEADED GULL

Larus ridibundus

General plumage white below, wings a delicate lavender grey, the large flight-feathers black and white at their tips; head and throat in breeding dress, a dark brown, in winter white; legs and beak red; eyes brown. Length, 15 inches.

This ought to be called the Brown-headed Gull, as the colour is never black. In winter the whole head is practically white, and it is in that plumage that most visitors to Egypt will alone see it.

It is a very lively little Gull; its flight is much lighter than the preceding, and when several are together they can hardly ever keep quiet for long, but from time to time give vent to their peculiar cry, which by some has been likened to the sound of laughter.

Captain Shelley says that, in a year where there was a terrible scourge of locusts, these Gulls were present in large flocks busily engaged in devouring these mischievous insects. In that way, and in the ordinary scavenger work that they share with all other Gulls, they are of great use to the country and should be protected.

I have seen them in ones and twos everywhere up and down the river, but the larger flocks are only to be seen at the great lakes of the Fayoum or along the coast, and I particularly remember, because of the weirdness of the surroundings, one occasion when I saw large flocks on the shores of the Red Sea. It was at Kosseir, and the coast there is alternately gently shelving sandy shore, and jutting-out, flat-topped rocky reefs. To one of these reefs I went as the tide was leaving them exposed, whilst flocks of Gulls and Waders were waiting for their evening meal.

The rock plateau going right out to sea was a coral reef, and the way in which pools led one into another by tunnels was most strange. Then the depths of some were great, as I found by sounding with a long rod, and some were past all sounding and seemed bottomless. It was evening when I got there, and soon became dark night, and it was then that the peculiar beauty of these pools came out, whilst the great flocks of Gulls and some Duck found new delights in them as the receding sea gave them more feeding-ground. Every pool was lighted up by the strange glowing eyes of some cuttle-fish--ever-moving, these jewel-like blue-green lights went passing round and round, sometimes the one becoming two as a turn of its head permitted my seeing both eyes, and then with another curve the two were one. Sometimes these strange lights were very very faint, but as I stood still they came nearer and nearer, and with my eyes riveted on them a most curious illusion followed. Nearer, nearer, stronger, more strong, these strange weird eyes advanced and crept up farther and farther, till time after time it was hard to believe that these glowing orbs had not left the water and were advancing right up to my own face. All the time the quiet of the place was only broken by the curious laughing-like call of the Gulls, and the shrill piping and whistling of the dark, shadowy shore birds.

Besides Gulls, the visitors to the Nile may see Terns, for there are some seven or eight species, but naturally these birds keep nearer the sea than elsewhere, yet it is pleasant to cherish the hope, founded on frequent reports, that Terns as well as several other birds that love the water are somewhat extending their area. Owing to the new barrage schemes making great permanent inland lakes which never existed before, the birds find a new home suitable to them, and which they have already begun to show they thoroughly appreciate. At home and in many other countries, the great reservoirs which supply the cities have always been favourite bird haunts, and it seems that here is one more benefit bestowed on Egypt consequent on British occupation. When at Lake Menzaleh this last winter, one of the most wonderful sights was the number of Terns, and on one occasion when I was trying to get near to Flamingo, a great flock of many hundreds of the large Caspian Tern came near enough for identification.

LIST OF BIRDS

Although the scope of this work is only to point out, by pictures, to the unlearned what birds he will most likely see during a winter in Egypt, yet I have felt that it would be wise to give a list of all the birds, as far as known; for some, turning to these pages, may desire to learn if some one or other bird which they did not see amongst my necessarily limited selection of pictured birds, was an Egyptian bird or not. In the preparation of this list, it goes without saying, I have been constantly indebted to that book, _A Handbook to the Birds of Egypt_, which, published so long ago as 1872 by Captain C. E. Shelley, still remains the one classic on this subject, and I have adopted, as far as possible, his names for all the birds mentioned. In addition, year after year, some small knowledge has accumulated of new birds, not known in that day to visit this country, and I am particularly indebted to Mr. M. J. Nicoll, assistant-director of the Government Zoological Gardens, Giza, for helping me to make this list as complete as possible.

LIST OF THE BIRDS OF EGYPT

1. The Golden Eagle (_Aquila fulva_). Rare, Upper and Lower Egypt.

2. The Imperial Eagle (_Aquila imperialis_). Lower Egypt.

3. White-tailed Eagle (_Haliaetus albicilla_). Lower Egypt.

4. Tawny Eagle (_Aquila naevoides_). Rare, Upper and Lower Egypt.

5. Spotted Eagle (_Aquila naevia_). Not very uncommon in both.

6. Bonelli's Eagle (_Aquila bonelli_). Very rare.

7. Booted Eagle (_Aquila tennata_). A summer visitor.

8. Short-toed Eagle (_Circaetus gallicus_). Rare.

9. Osprey (_Pandion haliaetus_). Fairly common in Nile Valley.

10. Southern Bearded Vulture (_Gypaetus nudipes_). Said to breed in Mokattam mountains.

11. Black Vulture (_Vultur monachus_). Fairly common in Nile Valley.

12. Sociable Vulture (_Vultur auricularis_). Fairly common.

13. Griffon Vulture (_Gyps fulvus_). Common.

14. Egyptian Vulture (_Neophron percnopterus_). Common.

15. Marsh-Harrier (_Circus aeruginosus_). Not uncommon in Lower Egypt.

16. Hen Harrier (_Circus cyaneus_). Rare.

17. Pale-chested Harrier (_Circus pallidus_). Not uncommon throughout country.

18. Montagu's Harrier (_Circus cineraceus_). Rare.

19. Little Red-billed Hawk (_Accipiter gabar_). Very rare.

20. Peregrine Falcon (_Falco peregrinus_). Not uncommon through country.

21. Barbary Falcon (_Falco barbarus_). Rare.

22. Lanner Falcon (_Falco lanarius_). Rare.

23. Red-naped Falcon (_Falco Babylonicus_). Rare.

24. Saker Falcon (_Falco saker_). Rare.

25. Merlin (_Falco aesalon_). Common throughout.

26. Hobby (_Falco subbuteo_). Fairly common.

27. Sooty Falcon (_Falco eleonorae_). Rare.

28. Red-legged Falcon (_Falco vespertinus_). Fairly common in Lower Egypt.

29. Kestrel (_Falco tinnunculus_). Very abundant everywhere.

30. Lesser Kestrel (_Falco cenchris_). Fairly abundant.

31. Common Kite (_Milvus regalis_). Very rare.

32. Parasitic Kite (_Milvus aegyptius_). Very abundant throughout Egypt.

33. Black Kite (_Milvus migrans_). Rare.

34. Black-shouldered Hawk (_Elanus coeruleus_). Fairly common south of Thebes.

35. Honey Buzzard (_Pernis apivorus_). Exceedingly rare.

36. Common Buzzard (_Buteo vulgaris_). Not common.

37. African Buzzard (_Buteo desertorum_). Exceedingly rare.

38. Long-legged Buzzard (_Buteo ferox_). Fairly common.

39. Barn Owl (_Aluco flammea_). Common.

40. Tawny Owl (_Strix aluco_). Not common.

41. Tengmalm's Owl (_Nyctala tengmalmi_). Very rare.

42. Little Owl (_Athene noctua_). Exceedingly abundant.

43. Scops Owl (_Scops giu_). Rare north of Cairo.

44. Long-eared Owl (_Asio otus_). Very rare.

45. Short-eared Owl (_Asio accipitrinus_). Rare.

46. Eagle Owl (_Bubo ignavus_). Very rare.

47. Egyptian Eagle Owl (_Bubo ascalaphus_). Fairly common in Upper Egypt.

48. Cuckoo (_Cuculus canorus_). A regular visitor in August and returning again in March.

49. Great-spotted Cuckoo (_Coccystes glandarius_). Not uncommon.

50. Lark-heeled Cuckoo (_Centropus aegyptius_). Not uncommon in Fayûm.

51. Wryneck (_Yunx torquilla_). Common on migration.

52. Hoopoe (_Upupa epops_). Abundant everywhere.

53. Common Kingfisher (_Alcedo ispida_). Abundant in Delta and common in many parts.

54. Little Indian Kingfisher (_Alcedo bengalensis_). Rare.

55. Black and White Kingfisher (_Ceryle rudis_). Very common.

56. Blue Roller (_Coracias garrula_). Not common.

57. Common Bee-eater (_Merops apiaster_). Common only in April and August.

58. Blue-checked Bee-eater (_Merops aegyptius_). Very common in April and again in autumn.

59. Little Green Bee-eater (_Merops viridis_). Very common in Upper Egypt.

60. Alpine Swift (_Cypselus melba_). Rare.

61. Common Swift (_Cypselus apus_). Not uncommon.

62. Egyptian Swift (_Cypselus pallidus_). Very common.

63. Nightjar (_Caprimulgus europaeus_). Common in spring and autumn months.

64. Egyptian Nightjar (_Caprimulgus aegyptius_). Not uncommon in spring and autumn.

65. Swallow (_Hirundo rustica_). Common in spring and autumn only.

66. Egyptian Swallow (_Hirundo savignii_). A very common resident.

67. House Martin (_Chelidon urbica_). Seen in small numbers in spring and autumn.

68. Shelley's Sand-Martin (_Cotile riparia shelleyii_). Summer visitor.

69. Sand-Martin (_Cotile riparia_). Abundant in Nile Valley.

70. Lesser Sand-Martin (_Cotile minor_). Common.

71. Rufous Swallow (_Hirundo rufula_). Rare.

72. Crag Swallow (_Cotile rupestris_). Rare.

73. Pale Crag Swallow (_Cotile obsoleta_). Common in parts.

74. White Wagtail (_Motacilla alba_). Exceedingly common.

75. White-winged Wagtail (_Motacilla vidua_). Common at Assoan.

76. Grey Wagtail (_Motacilla boarula_). Not uncommon.

77. Blue-headed Wagtail (_Motacilla flava_). Not uncommon.

78. Tree-Pipit (_Anthus trivialis_). Occasionally seen in September and April.

79. Meadow Pipit (_Anthus pratensis_). Rare.

80. Red-throated Pipit (_Anthus cervinus_). Abundant everywhere.

81. Water Pipit (_Anthus spinoletus_). Rare.

82. Richard's Pipit (_Anthus Richardi_). Rare.

83. African Tawny Pipit (_Anthus raalterri_). Rare.

84. Tawny Pipit (_Anthus campestris_). Common.

85. Bifasciated Lark (_Certhilauda desertorum_). Rare.

86. Desert Lark (_Ammomanes lusitana_). Not uncommon in Upper Egypt.

87. Tristram's Desert Lark (_Ammomanes fraterculus_). Not uncommon in Upper Egypt.

88. Sandy-coloured Desert Lark (_Ammomanes arenicolor_). Rare.

89. Crested Lark (_Galerita cristata_). Nearly the commonest bird.

90. Wood Lark (_Alauda arborea_). Exceedingly rare.

91. Sky Lark (_Alauda arvensis_). Occurs regularly in Lower Egypt.

92. Short-toed Lark (_Calandrella brachydactyla_). Abundant.