Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/419

 FAUNA. 889 year, flyinj^ in spring north to Europe to enjoy the freshness of the temperate climuteH, rfturning in uutumn to reoccupy their nest«, which stretch along the banks of the Nile as far south as the foot of the Abyssinian highlands. Of stationary birds in Kgypt there are numerous species, several of which are distinguished for their rare beauty. The white eagle sours into the higher aerial regions ; while the nectarine with its metallic sheen, lovely as the humming-bird of the New "World, flits and darts amid the garden flowers. The charadrim ^gyptiacHS, supposed by the ancients to be the faithful companion of the crocodile, still enlivens the banks of the Egyptian Nile, from which the great saurian has long retreated to the Nubian waters. With him also the ibis has departed for the southern solitudes ; but pigeons still flutter in dense clouds above the cultivated plains. In fact this bird forms everywhere a characteristic feature of the landscape in the inhabited parts of the country. " Every village has its pigeon-houses, looking like great mud cones, and in the evening the owners go out and call them in. An amusing instance of the usual Egyptian dishonesty was told me the other day. When a man wants to get hold of extra pigeons, he goes out of an evening ; but instead of calling them he frightens the pigeons away. They do not understand this ; keep circling above, and swoop down now and then towards their houses. Other pigeons, seeing this commotion, join them, and as soon as the man sees there are enough, he hides. The whole of the birds, old and new, then go into the house, and the man returning, shuts them in. This would be a fine business if it were not that all of them do the same thing, and therefore each gets caught in his turn. They know this perfectly well, but no Egyptian fellah could resist the temptation of cheating his neighbour."* The waters of the lakes and lagoons, throughout the delta region, are also frequented by myriads of aquatic fowl. Amongst the commonest species here met are the flamingo, pelican, heron, crane, and duck. Some of these birds are captured by the hand. Concealing his head in an empty gourd, which seems to float casually on the surface, the fellah swims stealthily towards the bird keeping guard, and seizing it suddenly by the feet from below, draws it under before it has time to give the alarm. Then the flock being more easily surprised, may be tiiken in largo numbers. Like the aquatic birds on the sedgy banks, fish teem in multitudes in the waters of Menzaleh and the other lakes of the lower delta. The annual ojMjning of the fishing season is celebrated by a feast, which coincides with the arrival of the mullets from the Mediterranean in the Gemileh lagoon. All the channels leading into the interior of the basin are closed by a long line of nets ; then at a given moment the fishermen get their boats ready, armed with hooks and harixwns, while on the neighbouring beach the feast is prepared by the women. Presently the sea begins to glitter ; the shoal of fish, pursued by the porpoises and other voracious animals, crowd about the entrance, causing the water to sparkle with a thousand prismatic tints. A suppressed murmur, as of many voices, caused by the rush of the living masses and splash of the troubled waters, gradually increases, and • E. Sartoriut, " Thn* Montlw in the Sudun," p. 32.