260 PRODUCTS.

not often frightened by the noise of fire-arms they are not timid and may be easily shot; but if the traveller sojourn for some days in one spot and pursue them with his gun, they then of course soon become as shy here as in other places. Several of the birds, and this applies more especially to the varieties of pigeons, are so little accustomed to fire-arms that, although many will fall at one shot, those which are not hit will remain quietly perched on the tree. I must also draw the attention of all travellers who may be sportsmen to the fact that the birds become very shy if they observe a Turkish attire and a red cap or turboosh, whereas if the sportsman wear a blue shirt and brown cap, after the fashion of Upper-Egypt, he may be sure of killing double the number he would in the dress abovementioned. The black storks occupy nearly every house in the villages ; each hut is furnished with a basket, which forms the apex of its roof, and serves these birds as a nest, thus saving them the trouble of building for themselves. He who might venture to do an injury to a stork would expose himself to the greatest abuse from the natives ; and were the dread of the white men not overawing, he might even subject himself to sensible proofs of their displeasure; for, as regards these birds, they are as superstitious as the people in some parts of Europe about the white stork. They are in consequence so tame that they run about the villages like geese, and I frequently had to throw my stick at