the first place that you can at all safely look for Ibis in is south of
Kartoom. It needs the great jungle-like brakes of papyrus that grow
rampantly along the river-course, and which help to constitute the dread
"sudd" of those waters. Immense masses of it, we are told, get torn off
and detached when the new year's flood comes rushing down, and along
with other masses go floating onwards till they meet with some stoppage
and then they form a dam, new masses coming down and down, till there
may be miles of this floating jungle, which can, and does, get so packed
and compressed by the weight behind it that it becomes nearly solid. In
country like that the Ibis lives, and that is, all will see at once, not
the country that Egypt is like, and therefore the Ibis is an absentee
from the big, gently-flowing Nile from Assoan to Alexandria. Was it ever
common in ancient Egypt? Not unless the conditions of those days were
markedly different to these. The river rose each year then as now, and
then as now by its rise and rush of waters must have kept the channel
clear and the banks bare; but it is possible that there may have been at
certain points big swamps where the papyrus grew, which have now become
cultivated ground. This view might be taken from the extensive use of
papyrus in dynastic days, almost implying that it grew commonly near at
hand. What is certain, however, is that it does not do so now; and Ibis
and papyrus are so joined together that, the one being absent, the other
is also. In the plate I have therefore shown Ibis in a regular jungle of
papyrus.[6] There is something strange, almost weird, about the
appearance of this bird, with his bald black head; something almost
priestly about the black and white drooping wings forming a vestment
from which springs the thin, black, naked neck and back. Some will see
none of these things, and only find a resemblance to an ugly vulture. It
is rather a moody sort of bird, and does not get on over well with other
birds when kept in confinement. It eats nearly anything that comes out
of the water, and is especially partial to a nice young fat frog.
[6] It was by M. Legran's courtesy that I was allowed to make my first
drawings of papyrus, from some that was found growing in the garden of
his charming house at Karnak.
THE CRANE
Grus communis
The whole of the body a delicate lilac grey, flight feathers dark.
Secondary wing-feathers very long, covering with a plume-like mass
the wings and tail. Sides of face white, as are the sides of neck,
which is black in front; top of head black, the centre of the crown
bare of feathers and of a brilliant red; beak greenish-yellow; eyes
red-brown. Total length, 46 inches.
Cranes will only be seen flying in flocks high in air, or else resting
after a day's flight on some sandbank by the river-side. As soon as they
have rested, fed, and refreshed themselves, they are up and away again,
and, as far as I know, they do not now remain anywhere in Egypt a day
longer than is necessary. They are as rapid in their visits as the most
scampering of tourists, who only allot so many days for a whole
continent. But owing to the enormous numbers that there are of these
birds, some of the migrating armies of them may be seen either in the
autumn when they are all going due south, or on the break-up of the
winter when they are all going due north. It seems strange that they
should get so far north as Lapland and Siberia, but that they do there
is abundance of proof; and it must always be remembered that these
migrant birds seem to choose the most northerly point of their migration
to breed and rear their young, so that when you see flocks wending their
way back in the spring-time all up the Nile valley you must picture them
as on their way to their northern homes, either in North Germany,
Russia, or Scandinavia. They make but a rough nest on the ground in some
parts of the great marshes they love, on little islands or tussocks of
coarse grass. Only two eggs are laid, of a rich brown colour with dark
spots: and the young are especially lively, running about with ease a
few days after being hatched. Therein they contrast strongly with the
young of the Heron, which remain in the nest for long weeks, and must
have every scrap of food brought right up to their nursery.
Cranes' plumage, after the summer's work is over, fades very greatly,
and I have seen it stated that the lovely lilac-grey altogether
vanishes, leaving but a very dirty, grey-brownish plumage. This is also
true of the Heron, and doubtless of all birds whose delicately coloured
plumage is put on for the breeding season, for the wear and tear that
these delicate
[Illustration: CRANES]
feathers have to pass through in all that long nesting period is
enough to soil and spoil everything.
Their food is very varied. In captivity they seem as if they could, and
would, eat anything, and I remember once seeing one trying to swallow a
kid glove that had accidentally been dropped into its enclosure;
possibly it thought it was some sort of dried frog! Insects, snails,
frogs, and anything it can get from the water, as well as seeds and
grasses, are its stock articles of diet.
M. Maspero told me that in his opinion there was a notable diminution of
their number and of the time they spend in Egypt every winter--a view I
also take most decidedly with my own recollections of twenty-five years
ago, when I saw them so frequently that then they were one of the
commonest sights on the Nile, whilst in the winters of 1907-1908 I was
only once able to make drawings of them on a sandbank near Minieh, and
saw but two or three flocks during the whole time flying high in air.
This is entirely owing to the great increase of large steamers which,
passing up and down, disturb the quiet of the water. If one is fortunate
enough to hear them calling one to another as they fly above your head,
one will ever afterwards be able to identify them, even though they be
mere specks in high heaven, as the sound is peculiarly trumpet-like and
sonorous. It carries an enormous distance, and attention may perhaps be
drawn to their coming before the faintest sign of them can otherwise be
seen.
Most would think, from a general glance at the Crane, that it was a
Heron of some sort, but scientists tell us that it is a long way removed
from them, and indeed some place it nearer the Bustards. There are many
species of Cranes, and they are to be found practically the world over,
for not only in Africa and Europe, but Asia, and Australia, and America
all have their special Cranes.
In many of the wall-paintings throughout Egypt Cranes are shown, and in
none are they in more exact truth than in the temple at Deir-el-Bahari.
There they are shown walking in stately fashion between slaves bearing
precious burdens; whilst some carry garden produce, rich fruits, and
flowers, others are laden with ready trussed fowls and ducks, and amidst
them all the graceful bird walks on. One wonders it does not fly away,
for these good things do but foreshadow its own end; but if you look
closely you will see its bill is tied down close to its neck, for these
old-time people knew well the habits of the beasts and birds, and knew
that if it could not stretch out head and neck it could not fly. All
Cranes, and indeed many other birds, seem unable to start flight without
a certain momentum given by a run forward with wings outspread and
stretched-out neck. With head tied down it could get no balance, and
would flap and flop, and then fall to the ground. It is in little
details such as this that the more you know the more you respect the
knowledge of these old artists, and admit the truth and merit of their
unrivalled art.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
THE SPOONBILL
Platalea leucorodea
Plumage white all over, tinged with buff on the lower part of the
neck; head crested; beak flattened from above downward, and
terminating in a broad spoon-shaped expansion; eye red.
When seen flying the Spoonbill can be readily distinguished from the
only other white Egyptian bird, _i.e._ the Egret, because the former
flies with its neck extended, whilst the latter, being of the Heron
tribe, flies with its neck drawn back close to the body.
I have seen pictures in some of the Gurnah tombs which, though crudely
drawn, were undoubtedly meant for the Spoonbill. The old-time artist was
apparently so struck with the flat, spoon-shaped beak that he deemed it
a worthy subject for the exercise of his art. But though faithfully
drawn in so far as its form is concerned, it is wrongly depicted in its
relation to the head, since the head is shown in profile, while the beak
is drawn as though it were seen from above! In no picture that I can
recall by these ancient draughtsmen is any bird ever shown in the very
slightest degree foreshortened.
[Illustration: SPOONBILLS
On a mud-bank.]
The use of this very remarkable beak is apparent when the bird is
seen feeding; it is held low down on the surface of the water, and
pushed along, like a shrimper's net, in front of the bird, so as to
collect the minute organisms which constitute its food. I have also seen
this beak driven deep down, and brought to the surface bearing long
strings of grass and other water weeds. In February 1909, when walking
along the front at Luxor,--with its hotels and shops, crowds of people
and noisy donkey-boys,--I was startled by quite a big flock of
Spoonbills that were beaten down low by a strong wind. They passed so
close over my head that I saw their big flat beaks and long extended
necks quite plainly: as they got farther away their general likeness to
Swans in flight was most striking.
Like all birds showing any marked peculiarity in the shape or size of
the beak, the Spoonbill wears a somewhat melancholy air, and my readers
will doubtless recall this appearance in the case of Herons and Storks,
Pelicans and Cormorants.
Time was when the Spoonbill was once common in Great Britain; this is
now, unhappily, no longer the case, but no farther away than Holland it
still lives and breeds.
THE STORKS
THE WHITE STORK
Ciconia alba
The White Stork is white all over, save for all the true wing
feathers, which are black. Beak and bare skin round eye, legs and
feet, bright red; eyes brown. Total length, 44 inches.
THE BLACK STORK
Ciconia nigra
The Black Stork is a bronzy black with purple and green reflections
all over head, neck, back, and wings. The lower parts white, and
beak and bare skin, legs and feet, bright red; eyes brown. Total
length, 42 inches.
Facing page 1 is shown a White Stork flying, and the fact that all
Storks, in distinction to Herons, fly with their heads and their legs
stretched out to their fullest extent, has been already pointed out.
This Stork is nearly always seen in large flocks, and there must be ten
to one of the white to the black species. The white bird is eminently a
gregarious bird, sociable with its fellows, and this sociability extends
also to mankind; and most have seen the old wheels stuck on poles and
rough platforms
[Illustration: Black Stork]
built on the top of buildings and barns in Holland or Germany to
encourage the bird to come and nest. The Stork and the Swallow know
their seasons, and people love to have these messengers of the coming
summer make their home with them; and in many places there are
traditions of the same site having been used by them for nesting in for
hundreds of years. Of all this side of their life, however, those seen
in Egypt show nothing, as nearly all that come are simply migrating
still farther south. A very few do remain throughout the winter in one
or two exceptionally favoured feeding-grounds; Lake Menzaleh, for
instance, with its great area of shallow water teeming with fish and
aquatic insect life, is a favourite haunt. The profusion of life in
every pool and puddle throughout Egypt is really astonishing. I have
seen isolated spaces hardly exceeding a couple of square yards
absolutely teeming and heaving with innumerable beetles and larvæ of
flies and insects. I can also recall one little pool in the centre of
one of the many small nameless islands in Lake Menzaleh: when I
approached it, from its glittering whiteness I took it to be one of
those salt-covered basins that are everywhere, but when I looked close
the whole floor of what had been a small pool was one solid mass of
dead fry, none longer than an inch and a half. The water had been all
over the island, but when I was there in April it had gone down, and
this mass of imprisoned little fish had died as the water gradually
dried up. How long they may have been dead I do not know, but the level
mass of them was so untouched that it was clear no gull or heron or
stork had been there, and yet the district was full of these birds; but
I presume living food being in such profusion round them, they cared not
to trouble about dead. The pool looked like a large basin of the most
wonderfully silvery whitebait.
Up the Nile when flocks of Storks are seen they are always either
heading due north in spring, or due south in autumn. Every now and again
they indulge, however, sometimes for hours together, in curious aerial
exercises high up in mid-air over one spot--why this is I do not know.
This, as is the case with so many of birds' habits, is all that can be
done--note the fact. Conclusions drawn from these facts are vain, as too
often man reads into these birds' actions the reasons that would occur
in his life; and the life of a bird is not as that of a man, and the
sooner man throws over all such ideas that he can tell anything of the
causes of birds' actions by reading himself into their lives, the
sooner he may get at the real truth of the matter. I say this because I
have been asked so often the question, Why do the Storks behave in this
curious way? I don't know, and at present I don't think any man knows;
for if they are on a journey the only stop you would think they would
make would be for rest or food, yet for hours, sometimes almost for the
best part of a day, they do stop over one spot, and you will see these
vast flocks high up, so that they look like mere specks, going round and
round, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, but never going far from some
unseen centre of attraction till the spirit moves them; and swinging out
of the great circle, they one by one take their places in the wake of
some chosen leader to the land to which they would go.
The White Stork makes a curious clattering noise with its bill. Its food
is mainly derived from the water; and frogs, a plague of which is always
over Egypt, are favourite morsels.
If sailing down the river you chance on a large flock resting on some
sandbank, you will see a picture which would be exceedingly difficult to
surpass in beauty and interest. The white of the great masses of birds
comes in fine contrast with the reds of their legs and the golden
yellow of the sand, and if on your nearer approach they all
simultaneously rise together into mid-air you will be hardly likely to
forget the scene for a whole lifetime.
* * * * *
The Black Stork is not so interesting as the above, but it is a
remarkably handsome bird in itself. All its peculiarities are just the
opposite of the White Stork. It is not gregarious, but generally rather
a solitary bird; it does not love its own species, and it certainly does
not court the proximity of man. On the scale that our drawing has had to
be reduced to, to suit these pages, it comes very small, but not too
small to show the general disposition of the colours of its plumage. We
came very early in the morning on this group standing at the end of a
long sand-bar, just ten miles south of Sohag, and they never got up as
the boat sailed comparatively close by them. The group was a very mixed
one, as in addition to the four Black Storks there were two Spoonbills
and a Heron; and I find another note that once I saw three Black Storks,
one White Stork, and several Herons all in a bunch together, this also
in the grey of an early March morning. These two cases of a
contradiction of what we are generally told is the ordinary habit of
shunning their own species is only another of the endless cases that I
have met with of the variation of the individual in absolutely
everything. All that can be done is to give what is believed to be the
average customary habit, but ever be prepared for individuals
contradicting the rule. To dogmatise as to what a child or a bird will
do is always March madness. The Black Stork is like his white cousin, of
great use in keeping down the Egyptian plague of frogs.
THE SHOEBILL OR WHALE-HEADED STORK
Balaeniceps rex
Arabic name, _Abu-markub_, or Father of a Slipper
The whole plumage is a faded blue-grey running into darker tones on
the wing. The primaries and tail being nearly black, eyes light
yellow, legs dark brownish-black. Bill, huge, boat-shaped.
This bird I have included, though hardly a true Egyptian bird, its home
being in the Soudan and south to Uganda, where Sir H. Johnston commonly
saw it. It is the greatest show-bird the Cairo Zoological Gardens
possesses, and by the ordinary person can be alone seen in Egypt. It is
so exceedingly quaint and grotesque, that even when desiring to give an
accurate representation of it, one is conscious that one's drawing seems
to look rather like a caricature. When it stands still there is
something suggestive of a crabbed, disagreeable old person; and when it
walks, the slow pedantic gait with the leg shot forward, with distended
toes pointing outwards, inevitably suggests the drum-major or the
dancing-master. So many people
[Illustration: SHOEBILL STORK]
visiting the Cairo Gardens remember only this quaint bird, that it
has become one of the most popular birds of the country, and is better
known than very many of the true native Egyptian birds.
Captain Stanley S. Flower says "he saw perhaps as many as forty in one
day" during a trip on the White Nile. "They were to be seen usually
singly, sometimes two or three within a score of yards of each other,
standing about on the edges of the marsh, always in the same attitude.
In the motionless way in which they stand, their solitariness, and their
flight, they are more like a Heron than a Stork. In fact, at a distance,
unless you can see the bill, it is impossible to tell them when on the
wing from the Goliath Heron."
Mr. A. L. Butler says of it in its native wilds: "They seem of a very
sluggish nature, and I seldom observed them on the wing unless put up by
our steamer." And as to its food, he writes: "I have never known it
attempt to eat shell-fish; the bird is a fisher pure and simple, but
doubtless, like a Heron, will eat any small mammal or young water-bird
that comes within reach." Heron-like, Balaeniceps, instead of searching
for its prey, waits patiently for it to come to it. It is generally to
be seen standing motionless on newly-burnt swampy ground, or short
grass flooded with an inch or two of water, inside the fringe of
papyrus, or "um suf" sudd which separates the channel of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal from the plains. I never saw the bird actually wading in
water. Its food consists principally of _Polypterus senegalus_, which
wanders a great deal into flooded grass-land. Sometimes the bird will
perch on the top of a tree, but trees are scarce in its haunts. Its
flight is heavy, but powerful; the neck is drawn back like a Heron's.
"It seems to be rather a quarrelsome bird; on its first arrival at
Khartoum, it seized a fox terrier which approached it so sharply that
the dog fairly yelled." Some of its habits are as peculiar as its
appearance, for, later on, Mr. Butler tells us, "They have a curious
trick of repeatedly bringing up their food before finally swallowing it.
This often results in the disgorged fishes being snatched up by Kites";
and every visitor to the Giza Gardens must have noticed its curious
habit of rattling its bill as it alternately lifts and lowers its head
as a sort of welcome to its keeper. When it stands thus with its head
lowered, its bill clattering, and its neck slightly swollen and held
straight as a stick, it is about the most curious-looking bird possible.
At the date of writing, I believe these three specimens at Giza are the
only ones in any zoological gardens in the world, and the authorities
are naturally very proud of them; but we do hope that some day we shall
have some in our own Zoological Gardens in London, as they are birds
that can stand captivity well.
THE COMMON HERON
Ardea cinerea
The top of head, neck, and under-parts white; a stripe above the
eye, back of head, and long, thin crest-feathers; spots on breast,
and larger wing-feathers black; flanks a very light grey; rest of
plumage a delicate slaty-grey shading on the wings to a darker hue;
beak yellowish-green; legs greenish-black; eyes yellow. Entire
length, 38 inches.
This is the common Heron of England, and is evenly distributed over the
country. It needs water, and from that cause is more often seen in Lower
than Upper Egypt. It seems to be a visitor and not a resident. Mr. M. J.
Nicoll tells me that from August to April it is steadily seen either in,
or flying over, the Zoological Gardens at Cairo, and if it were a
resident bird it would be one of the first to make the Gardens a
breeding-place, as the thick trees and quiet pools of water are all to
its liking; but I have not heard that it ever occurs there during the
summer months. The group I sketched were standing together at the edge
of a pool on the river, gazing stolidly at a solitary pelican. At home,
it always nests in colonies known as heronries, and I believe that in
England
[Illustration: HERONS
At dawn on the Nile.]
it is rather increasing than decreasing in numbers. The young
birds are peculiarly ugly, and have a rather mad-looking hairy down
covering on their heads, which is retained till they have become almost
fully fledged. When I have been watching Herons standing, patiently
waiting by the hour together, for fish to come within striking distance,
I have often wondered if there was any truth in the old homely legend of
their legs having some potent fascination by reason of an exuded oil
which the fish love, that tempts them to come swimming round and round
till they approach too near and are adroitly caught. Anyhow this is
certain, it does not walk after them; they come to it. Having chosen its
spot, it remains there as quiet as a mouse, and with the true
fisherman's patience bides its time. It is a curious sight to see the
way in which it perches on a branch. It drops its long, thin legs and
seizes it with its extended toes, but always seems to find it hard to
get its balance, and as the branch sways with its weight it bends its
body this way and that, all the time keeping its wings expanded as if
trying to get just the right balance, and you realise then that it is no
true "perching bird." It lends its picturesque form to Egyptian scenery,
just as it does to our homely English waters or wilder Scotch lochs; it
always, somehow, goes well with the landscape. Shelley says, "It may be
seen in considerable numbers in company with Spoonbills, Pelicans, and
other waders." And it is one of the curious facts about bird life here,
that so many of the birds that we know only as solitary and not at all
given to consorting in flocks, either with their own species or any
other, save at their breeding stations, frequently do show a complete
difference of habit in this respect in this country. From the boat I
remember seeing a singular line of seven birds flying towards us. The
first was a Heron, then a Spoonbill, then a Heron followed by two
Spoonbills, and the straight line ended with two Herons, all so close
together, the bill of one nearly touching the tail of the other, and all
keeping time with the utmost precision.
To enumerate all the places I have watched this bird at is unnecessary,
as at one time or another I have seen it everywhere. Its food is fish,
frogs, and it is particularly fond of eels.
BUFF-BACKED HERON
Ardeola russata
General plumage white, delicately tinged with buff on head, nape,
crop, and back; beak and bare skin round eye, yellow; eye, light
yellow; legs, olive-black. Total length, 20·5 inches.