crest of upward curling pointed feathers; under plumage white;
black chest; orange under tail coverts; beak black; legs brown;
eyes dark brown. Total length, 13 inches.
This is the "Lapwing" or "Peewit" of England, and is a rarer bird in
Egypt than at home. But if you look sharp out, you ought to see it at
least once or twice in a run up the river, in small or larger flocks--I
do not ever remember to have seen it singly. Why I have chosen this bird
as one of our fifty is, because go where you will, north or south, you
see the undoubted counterfeit presentment of this bird engraven on the
walls of all the temples.
Many see it, but are misled by the rather mad armlike-looking thing
brandished out in front of the bird's face, and never see the undoubted
portrait of a Plover till it is actually pointed out. Why this bird
should have been chosen, and why the owl and the vulture should have
been selected from the great mass of Egypt's birds, we cannot explain,
but can only draw attention to the fact, and find interest in the
thought that just as now this bird may be seen, so in the old far-away
dynastic days it must have been a familiar bird, or it would certainly
not have been selected for use in picture and hieroglyph. Some few breed
in Egypt, it is said; but certainly the bulk all go north and west when
spring-time comes. This is the bird that supplies gourmands with their
annual dainty of Plovers' eggs; it lays four in the simplest of nests--a
mere slight depression in the ground--and as soon as the young are
hatched, within a few hours of actual birth into the outer world, they
are running about nimbly on their own little legs, and, at the
instigation of their fond parents, catching flies and insects with their
own little bills. In this matter of the helplessness, or reverse, of
newly-hatched birds, is a most interesting field for research. The proud
eagle's young are, for a long time, as helpless as our own babies, and,
it is alleged, have sometimes to be forcibly pushed out of the home;
whilst, as we have seen, Plovers' young are born almost self-supporting.
And this precocity, as it seems, is also seen in young ducklings, and in
all the so-called game-birds: all they ask for is their mother's wings
to protect them against the weather, and warmly shelter them at night.
[Illustration: GREEN PLOVER OR LAPWING]
SPUR-WINGED PLOVER
Hoplopterus spinosus
Arabic, _Zic-zac_
Crown, nape, chin, centre of throat, breast, and tail black; white
cheeks, white under and above tail, back and sides of wings a
grey-brown, a sharp hard spur on point of shoulder, bill, feet and
legs black, eyes rich crimson. Entire length, 12 ins.
Whether this or the Black-headed Plover is to have the honour of being
the bird Herodotus has made famous will probably ever be a matter for
the Schoolmen to argue over, but lately I came across Dr. Leith Adam's
note, explaining the reason why he insists that the Spur-winged Plover
is the real friend of the crocodile and not the Black-headed,--_i.e._
"Codling not Short." "The crocodile, tired of keeping its jaws wide
open, just shuts them, to the everlasting peril of the bird; were it not
for those two sharp spurs on his wings he of course would be suffocated
and later doubtless swallowed, but by these spurs, when the roof comes
down on the top of him, he just reminds his patron of his existence, by
jabbing the tenderest parts of the interior of his mouth." This is said
invariably to refreshen the sleepy crocodile's faculties, so that he
remembers his faithful dentist and immediately opens his jaws and
releases the prisoner, to whom one hopes he expresses profound regret.
It is to be seen on the sand-banks in Lower Egypt, but gets noticeably
less frequent as one journeys into Upper Egypt, and one is disposed to
think is growing less in number year by year, as so many of the pure
river-side birds are, by reason of the now continually passing, noisy,
wash-producing steamers.
It seems to be distinctly a quarrelsome bird, anyhow when breeding, and
both male and female are more often than not to be seen having some row
or another with some poor inoffensive bird who has ventured too near
their nest. At times it stands up practically perpendicular, and jerks
its head and body up and down with clockwork regularity till the cause
of its upset has ceased, when it draws in its head and sinks it deep
between its shoulders, as is shown in the accompanying drawing. Its nest
is a mere depression in the sand, and it lays three or four eggs which
are very similar to our common Green Plover or Lapwing.
Von Heuglin relates a Mohammedan legend: That Allah, having asked all
things great and small
[Illustration: SPUR-WINGED PLOVER]
to come to a great feast, all came except this Plover. Allah
rebuked him. The Plover said he had fallen asleep and forgot all about
the fixture. Allah, who knows all things, knew he lied, and answered,
"Then from this time forth thou shalt know no sleep," and he made these
two spurs to grow on the points of his shoulders so that he shall suffer
great pain if he try to sleep by putting his head under his wing.
BLACK-HEADED PLOVER
Pluvianus aegyptius
Arabic, _Ter el timsah_
Top of head black, as also is a band through eye which
meets the black and across chest; wing and sides of back
a very beautiful pale lilac blue-grey, under-parts white, lower
throat and flanks a creamy rufous, legs bluish, eye brown.
Total length, 8·5 inches.
This is regarded as quite certainly the bird known in ancient days as
the Crocodile Bird. It was held to be the faithful attendant of this
fearsome reptile, warning it of danger: and when the creature it fed was
full, this little bird was supposed to attend to the proper cleaning of
the ogre's teeth! For this purpose, we are told, the crocodile would lie
quietly with its great mouth wide open whilst this brave little dentist
ran about briskly right into the open jaws and deftly removed noisome
leech or scrap of food left between those ugly fangs, and never showing
the slightest fear. It is a pretty story, but as there are now no
crocodiles in Egypt proper, the ordinary traveller has no chance of
seeing if this be so or no. But though the crocodiles are gone the
Black-headed Plover is
[Illustration: BLACK-HEADED PLOVER]
still to be seen by those going up or down by water. Mr. E.
Cavendish Taylor, writing in 1867, says, "This bird is abundant all
along the Nile above Cairo, wherever the banks of the river are muddy."
Captain Shelley in 1870, referring to it, says, "It is plentifully
distributed throughout Egypt and Nubia, but it is most abundant in Upper
Egypt between Siool and Thebes." I myself saw it many times in 1875,
whilst going up and returning, in good quiet-fashioned way, by dahabeah;
but when I again went over the same ground in 1908, although going very
slowly and stopping every day, I only find, from my notebook, that we
saw it three or four times in our six weeks' journey from Thebes to
Cairo. All that we saw were wild and anything but the confiding birds
one has been taught to regard them. I think by far the most notable
thing about this bird is its curious habit of laying its eggs on the
sand, and then carefully burying them with the clear purpose of letting
the genial sun do the bulk of the work of hatching out. Captain Verner
gives a most interesting and detailed account of watching the movements
of one of these birds on a sandbank. He went to the place, he writes,
"And at the precise spot turned over the sand, and about half an inch
below the surface discovered three fresh eggs, which the artful bird
had completely buried.... Still I was unable to account in my own mind
for the very energetic movements to and from the water which I had
witnessed on this occasion, until I received an account from a cousin,
Lieutenant George Verner, of the Borderers, who was stationed about
forty miles farther down the river than I was, which solved the mystery,
as follows:--'On 25th April I was waiting in a boat alongside of a
sandbank, and my attention was attracted by a pair of Black-headed
Plovers which kept flitting about quite close to me. I noticed that one
of them was continually wetting its breast at the water's edge about ten
yards below our boat, and then running up the bank to a spot about the
same distance inshore of us, when it would squat down and remain about
two minutes or so, after which it would get up, and, running down to the
water's edge above us, fly round to the spot where it had dabbled
previously.... At the spot where the bird had been crouching I found a
clutch of eggs half buried in the sand, their tops only being visible;
the sand immediately surrounding them was moist, although the bank I was
on was an expanse of dry burning sand.'" From this it seems clear, as
Captain Verner says, that this plover has learnt that with judicious
damping, the sand and the sun will do the hatching, thereby removing the
necessity of having to spend long days and nights brooding over the
eggs. It is, however, very curious that no other of the large number of
birds that lay their eggs on the desert sand or hard dry mud-banks
should do this: and especially curious since these birds are first
cousins, as one might say, to the Spur-winged Plover--which breeds often
within a few hundred yards of where Black-headed ones are--and this bird
sits continuously till the young are hatched. The egg resembles that of
the Red Grouse and is not very plover-like in character--indeed, some
ornithologists will have it this bird is not really a Plover, but is
more allied to the Coursers.
LITTLE RINGED-PLOVER
Aegialitis minor
General colour of upper plumage a delicate grey-brown; under
plumage white, with a black bar through the eye, and a dark mark on
the forehead, bordered at its lower and upper margin with white;
and a rich black collar going nearly all round body; legs reddish.
Total length, 6·5 inches.
This bird no one can fail to see, as, though it is in other countries a
shy bird, it is here amazingly tame and familiar. By the river, by
canal-side, round every small pool or watercourse, there you will see
this cheerful little compact-shaped bird. All last winter, 1907-8, I had
seen great numbers in the Thebes district, but in this winter of 1909 I
have on Lake Menzaleh seen literally thousands of Ring-Plover. I cannot
be sure they were all "the Little Ring-Plover"; that they were
Ring-Plovers, I am certain, but as there are three species of
Ring-Plover--the Great, the Middle, and the Little (and Captain Shelley
strangely gives the dimensions of the Middle form as smaller than the
Little)--it is safest not to be too dogmatic, and only call them
Ring-Plovers. It is a very active bird, incessantly on the search for
food,
[Illustration: RINGED-PLOVER]
and the pace that those little legs can go, when they do their
best, is amazing. It has a charming way of ever and anon stopping
suddenly still and looking steadily at you, with head held very slightly
aside, seeming to try to read right through you, and discover if you are
friend or foe. When it flies its wings are seen to be very sharp and
pointed, and bearing some resemblance to a snipe's--a bird it is often
made to do duty for by those romancers, the native gunners, who tempt
the uninitiated to accompany them for snipe-shooting, and assure the
new-comer these poor little Plover are Snipe--"Egyptian" Snipe.
THE SNIPE
Gallinago coelestis
Top of head, back, and upper feathers of wings dark brown, in parts
nearly black with a bluish gloss, two buff streaks on each side of
shoulders; face and chest spotted with dusky brown, whilst the
flanks are barred with the same colour; tail bright chestnut,
barred with black and tipped with white; legs greenish; bill brown,
at base flesh colour; eyes dark brown. Length, 11·5 inches.
The Snipe in some parts of Upper Egypt are so extraordinarily tame--and
hardly behave as Snipe do generally--that I have no doubt they are often
seen by many who never recognise them as Snipe at all. At the Sacred
Lake at Karnak I have seen veritable processions of visitors, headed by
a talking dragoman, walk along the path quite near one which was
standing at the water's edge, and if none left the pathway it would
remain stolid, but if any boy, or workman, came down to bathe or drink,
it just flew across to the other side and at once settled down again.
And in the very early morning before the workers arrive, I have stood
right on the shore, not screened or hidden in any way, and had Snipe
dibbling about in the water not more than five or six yards away. The
first time this happened I thought the bird must be wounded or unable to
fly, but it was not, and it is only one more proof of the benefit that
the Antiquities Department has produced by exercising its authority over
the areas it controls. No shooting is allowed on "Antiquities ground,"
and birds very soon get to know this, gain confidence, and lose all
their natural shyness. Needless to say, in those parts where they are
shot they behave as warily as Snipe do at home, and are up and away with
their curious "scarpe, scarpe" cry. Years ago the Delta was one of the
best snipe-grounds in the world, and an old sportsman in Cairo told me
of his getting 93 couples in a day, and as late as 1902 a certain five
days' shooting gave an average of 72 couple per day. In nearly all such
bags some Jack Snipe were obtained; and in Mr. M. J. Nicoll's notes on
birds met with at Menzaleh the Jack Snipe is given as the commoner of
the two species.
There is nothing to show that Snipe ever breed in Egypt, though there
are many localities where it well might, and it is another of the great
army of winter migrant visitors that go to the north as spring comes on.
It lives entirely on insects and worms, which it procures by probing the
soft, black mud with its long, sensitive bill. I have seen Snipe in
most unlikely places, and once saw one fly right through an open space
at the Ramaseum Temple. From my notes of a night's watching at a pool I
borrow the following: "_14th January_, 7.30 P.M.--Snipe are squawking,
and can hear them coming in on all sides throughout night, which is a
dark one; could hear only faint rippling noise at intervals, as some
duck or wader moved about, and the earliest call was at 3 A.M., when a
Snipe squawked once or twice, then silence again, and only a faint,
far-away dog's bark, and a cricket in the sandbank near my side began
churring. At 5 A.M. great splashing at end of pool, and coot began
moving. No light showed till after 6, and then one could see duck
feeding and moving off, and again little wisps of Snipe went over my
head and away."
THE WOODCOCK
Scolopax rusticula
The plumage is grey below, faintly barred on flanks. The head
barred on top and spotted on sides. The wings are rich
chestnut-brown with transverse bars of black; a narrow stripe of
rich yellow triff edged with black runs along the scapulars; tail
short and pointed, barred with chestnut and black, is tipped with
grey above and pure white beneath. Legs a pale flesh colour; beak
reddish at base, brown at tip. Eyes, peculiarly large and of a rich
brown, are placed more backward than in most birds. Total length,
14·25 inches.
Accounts in 1907-8 show that the Woodcock has been obtained fairly
frequently, and a case was told me of two being obtained literally by
the side of the road from Cairo to the Pyramids in one morning. It is
very usual to deplore the existence of "the man with the gun" without in
the least really considering the whole matter. That certain men with
guns shoot at everything and at all times, breeding season or otherwise,
and without any object in killing their victims, is of course
deplorable; but the killing of birds in season that can be used as food
for man is no offence whatever. Further, from observant good sportsmen
has come a full half of all the knowledge of birds that exists, and
this cannot be too often dwelt upon, as enthusiasts run riot on this
subject, and do damage to a good cause by injudicious condemnation. The
accompanying illustration is a small example of what I mean. All know
that birds, like ourselves, have eyes and ears, and one knows that the
relative positions thereof are as in ourselves--the ear lies behind the
eye. No book that I am aware of has any intimation that any other order
exists; but one day, a winter or so ago, I shot a Woodcock, and for the
purpose of making a minute study of the bird examined it closely, when I
found that the ear was in front of the eye. I at once consulted all my
bird books, but found no reference to this strange fact. I then examined
ten other birds, and though they varied individually, not one but had
the ear somewhat in front of the eye.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.
_Head of Woodcock, to show the position of the Ear._]
The woodcock's food is mainly obtained by
[Illustration: COMMON SNIPE]
probing. Its bill is richly supplied with very delicate nerves,
and it probes the soft mud and ooze in search of those grubs and insects
that live there. It also feeds on worms that it obtains above ground,
and indeed has a varied diet.
THE PAINTED SNIPE
Rhynchoea capensis
Head and neck a rich red-brown, darkest on the lower neck or
breast; dark streak through eye; buff marking from beak to top of
head; back a changing brown with purple and green reflections on
the wing, barred with darker markings; the large wing-feathers have
rows of bright buff spots on their outer margins; rump a dark slaty
grey with darker wavy bars; buff stripes on shoulders; legs
greenish; beak reddish-brown; eyes brown. Length, 9·3 inches.
This name is unfortunate, for some people seem to imagine that the bird
will be found to have paint on it, like a painted Sparrow! Though a
handsomely marked bird, those who have shot much say that as a sporting
bird it is not to be compared with the common Snipe, as it rises slowly,
it does not twist or zig-zag about, and is content with a very short
flight. It is a resident bird, and breeds in May in Lower Egypt. I met
with it at Lake Menzaleh when there in April, and it possibly is more
common throughout the country than is imagined, as it lies very close in
cover, and rarely shows itself unless compelled to by being almost
trodden upon.
[Illustration: PAINTED SNIPE]
THE AVOCET
Recurvirostra avocetta
Whole plumage white, excepting the following parts, which are
black--top of head and back of neck, a band between the shoulders,
inner part of scapulars, wing-coverts, and primaries; beak long and
slender, and turned upwards; legs, slaty-blue-green colour. Total
length, 17 inches.
I have included this bird because it is like the Spoonbill, so singular
in the form of its bill, and so interesting to us, because at one time
it was fairly common in Great Britain. If it is seen it ought to be
easily identified, not only because of its black and white plumage, but
also because of the curious sweeping movement it makes with its bill as
it searches the water for its prey, something suggestive of a mower with
a scythe. Captain Shelley says it is met with in large flocks on the
Nile, but I have only seen it in very small parties, six being the
largest number that I have seen together on the river, but at Lake
Menzaleh I have seen hundreds together. Von Heuglin says they are very
abundant on the shores of the Red Sea, but on the two occasions I was on
those shores--the last time at Kosseir--I was not fortunate enough to
observe it. On the sandbanks--those that are very low, with wet spots
and little pools--it can be seen better than when they are in big
flocks on the salt lakes. Those who travel up and down the Nile in the
only way one should do the river journey, namely, by sailing dababeah,
should keep a good look-out for this beautiful bird; but I fear that
those who pass by in great steamers have less chance, as I have often
noticed when my boat has been moored to the bank that on the approach of
these monsters pouring out their black clouds of smoke, every bird,
great and small, hurries off in disgust if not in absolute alarm. The
Avocet is not a permanent resident in Egypt, but comes from a northern
home to winter here. It is entirely dependent on the water for its food,
obtaining therefrom endless minute specks of life by means of its bill,
moved from side to side on the top, or just under the surface of the
muddy pools. When at Lake Menzaleh in March and April I saw great flocks
of many hundreds just near the last sandbank that separates the lake
from the Mediterranean, and Mr. M. J. Nicoll has seen it there in
January. They are web-footed, a peculiarity that they share with the
Flamingo, another very long-legged wading bird, but whereas the latter
is really in form rather an ugly, ungainly bird, the Avocet is
peculiarly elegant and graceful in all its movements.
[Illustration: AVOCET]
THE SACRED IBIS
Ibis aethiopica
General plumage white; a mass of almost hair-like feathers falls
over the wings and tail--these feathers are a rich metallic black
with deep blue reflections; head and neck bare of all feathers,
showing black wrinkled skin; beak and legs black; eyes brown.
Length, 28 inches.
This is one of the birds the selection of which I fully expect to get
criticism on. But I have chosen it for two reasons that, I think,
justify its inclusion. The first is, that from one cause or another the
Sacred Ibis is a bird so wrapped up with all our ideas of Egypt, and
almost representative of the birds of Egypt, that most, although they do
not know the bird, are interested in its existence. The second is one
that follows this known interest, namely, the exposing of the dragoman's
oft-repeated impudent lie, that he can, and does, show the newcomer
Sacred Ibises, whereas he does not and cannot.
Why, exactly, this bird was treated with reverence in its lifetime as a
sacred being, and embalmed and mummified when dead, is not known. That
it was is certain; and most museums can show many many examples. Then
again, it was taken and placed on the body of a man, and made a symbol
of the god Thoth, who presided over arts, inventions, writing, and
literature. So it has come to pass that all of us, before even our first
visit to the Nile, know of this bird, anyhow by name, and being here,
very naturally desire to see it. The dragoman, being asked so frequently
to point out Sacred Ibises, long ago settled that it would be best to
please and humour his patrons, and determined to call all Egrets,
Spoonbills, and Buff-backed Herons, being white birds with long necks
and legs, Sacred Ibises. Time after time I have been solemnly informed
that four or five, or a round dozen, Ibises had been seen at such a
place. On inquiry I have been told there could be no mistake, as dear
So-and-so, the dragoman, had pointed them out and assured all and sundry
that they were "genuine Sacred Ibis." And though strange, it is true,
people prefer to believe a lie if it confirms what they wish, than the
truth if it does not. The sad truth is, there are no Sacred Ibises in
Egypt at all, and the dragomans--anyhow, most of them--know this
elementary bit of ornithology perfectly well, but they prefer to lie,
and live in the perpetual atmosphere of mild
[Illustration: SACRED IBIS AND PAPYRUS]