Identifier: egyptianbirdsfor00whymuoft (find matches)
Title: Egyptian birds : for the most part seen in the Nile Valley
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Whymper, Charles, 1853-
Subjects: Birds -- Egypt
Publisher: London : A. and C. Black
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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anks in LowerEgypt, but gets noticeably less frequent as onejourneys into Upper Egypt, and one is disposedto think is growing less in number year by year, asso many of the pure river-side birds are, by reasonof the now continually passing, noisy, wash-pro-ducing steamers. It seems to be distinctly a quarrelsome bird,anyhow when breeding, and both male and femaleare more often than not to be seen havingsome row or another with some poor inoffensivebird who has ventured too near their nest. Attimes it stands up practically perpendicular, andjerks its head and body up and down with clock-work regularity till the cause of its upset hasceased, when it draws in its head and sinks itdeep between its shoulders, as is shown in theaccompanying drawing. Its nest is a mere de-pression in the sand, and it lays three or four eggswhich are very similar to our common GreenPlover or Lapwing. Von Heuglin relates a Mohammedan legend :That Allah, having asked all things great and small SPUR-WINGED PLOVER
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SPUR-WINGED PLOVER 115 to come to a great feast, all came except thisPlover. Allah rebuked him. The Plover said hehad fallen asleep and forgot all about the fixture.Allah, who knows all things, knew he lied, andanswered, Then from this time forth thou shaltknow no sleep, and he made these two spurs togrow on the points of his shoulders so that he shallsuffer great pain if he try to sleep by putting hishead under his wing. BLACK-HEADED PLOVER Pluvianu5 aegyptius Arabic, Ter el ti/u&ah Toj) of head black, as also is a band through eye whichmeets the black and across chest; wing and sides of backa very beautiful pale lilac blue-grev, under-parts white, lowerthroat and Hanks a creamy rufous, legs bluish, eye brown.Total length, 8*5 inches. This is regarded as quite certainly the bird knownin ancient days as tlie Crocodile Bird. It waslield to be the faithful attendant of this fear-some reptile, warning it of danger: and when thecreature it fed was full, this little bird was supposedto

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