The Vulture (JVesser).— Excepting the ostrich, this is the largest bird in A fr ica ; it is common in all places where the gum ammoniac plant grows, arid it is said to feed on the horned beetle, which lives upon that plant. In the plains east o f E l Araiche, where the plant abounds, I have seen at least twenty o f these birds in the air at once, darting down on the insects with astonishing rapidity. T h e y build their nests on lofty precipices, h ig h rocks, and in dreary parts o f the mountains. Mr. Bruce calls this bird the Nessir, or golden eagle, but I apprehend he has committed an error in denominating it an eagle, thegenerical name o f w hich, in the Arabic language, is El Bezz. The E agle.— Bezz el Horreh designates the largest species o f eagle, with undescribably clear and beautiful eyes o f an orange colour. I shot one o f these birds in crossing the A tlas mountains between Marocco and Terodant, and attempted to preserve it for the purpose o f sending it to Europe, but it died on the third day. T h is is the bird which is reported by the Africans to engender the dragon on the female hyaena; a chimera originating undoubtedly in some Arabian fable or allegorical trad ition, though gen erally credited b y the inhabitants o f Atlas, who affirm the dragon thus engendered to have the wings and beak o f an eagle, a serpent’s tail, and short feet like a hyaena, the eye-Iids never closed, and that it lives in caves like the hyaena. Hawks and Falcons.— T h e Shereefs and Bashaws, and higher orders o f society, are much attached to falconry. Muley Teib, brother to the present Emperor, was passionately fond of this kind o f sport, and had the best falcons in the country. The y teach these young hawks dexterously to fly at and catch ducks, wild- geese, partridges, hares, bustards, and antelopes; the latter, however, is too strong to be held b y the falcon, which hovers about its head, and impedes its progress, till the greyhounds come up with it and secure it. I hâve hunted with the prince Muley Teib and his falconers several times, accompanied by Dr. Bell, an English surgeon who attended him. While Herons [Bufullel).— T he white heron differs from the garde boeufs*) ox-keepers ; it is called bufula in the singular number; the garde boeuf is called b y the Arabs T ee r el buk- kera, which signifies the cow bird, as the large red-spotted lizard is called Erdar el bukkera, because it sucks the cows’ milk. A person might, however, easily mistake the garde bbeiif for thé white heron, as I did once m y s e lf; having killed about a hun dred at different times, I have often shot the former for the la tte r ; the Arabs always persuaded me th e y were not the same; and in fact so I found, for I never saw a heron killed near a cow ; the y are found on the banks o f ri vers, where th e y feed on worms; at a distance o f fifty yards, th e y are exa ctly the same in appearance ; the heron) however, when examined, appears to differ in the colour o f the legs, w hich are black, whereas those o f the garde boeu f are yellowish, or brown : the heron has two long narrow feathers on the crown o f the head, hanging o v e r the neck ; the garde boeuf has none : the heron has from twenty to a hundred aigrètte feathers on its back ; the garde boe u f has none. W ith regard to what is said in the note belowj-j- it may be observed that the transposition or omission * Vide Sonini’s Travels in Egypt, page 217. I cannot suppress a smile when I recollect a trifling adventure to which the egrets gave occasion in my journey from Rosetta to Alexandria with M. Pott ; he took with him a surgeon, puffed up with folly and conceit, and combining their knowledge of natural history, they had decided that the numerous egrets, whose d a z z lin g whiteness (so. interesting an emblem of candour and virginity), constituted the most beautiful ornament of the banks of the Nile, were the Ibis ór
27f 39
To see the actual publication please follow the link above