'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎443] (528/905)

CHAP. XVIII.]
BIRDS.
443
tic animals, has long brown hair, pendulous ears, and short
black horns bent downwards.
Sheep are next in estimation, and they are of two kinds,
one of which has an enormous pendulous tail weighing 15
lbs. or more; the other, the runnam of the Bedawin, is
higher and stronger, but the wool is coarser than that of the
European animal.
The cinereous, the percnopterus, the fulvus, and the com- Birds of prey,
mon vulture, as well as other birds of prey abound, and being
quite undisturbed, they are remarkably tame. Different kinds
of falcons, some not described, are probably more numerous
in this than in almost any other part of the globe. They
form part of the regular establishment of the rich Turks, and
are generally seen near the tents of the Turkoman chiefs. The
latter pride themselves on a thorough knowledge of every
thing connected with these fine birds, and with the exciting
amusement of the chase, more particularly that of the gazelle.
The privileged stork, the pelican, 1 and several kinds of
aigrette abound; owls, great and small, are numerous ; likewise
the francolin, the solitary snipe, the sanderling, and nearly
every other kind of bird belonging to northern Europe, from
the cock of the wood and the bustard to the diminutive
wren (here migratory), are to be seen at certain periods passing
southward and again northward through the pashalik. There
are, however, some birds which more particularly belong to
the district, such as the green parrot, the locust-eater, also a
kind of quail about the size of a small pigeon, the kata of the
Arabs, which, at times, literally darkens the air by its num
bers ; and the Tair-el-Raouf, or the Magnificent.
These extraordinary birds frequent the rivers Sajur and Tair-el-Raouf.
Kowei'k, where, in taking the fish, they exert a degree of in
genuity which far exceeds that of the crane or the pelican.
They are described as assembling in large flocks at the shallow
places of the rivers mentioned, and haying placed themselves
side by side in several ranks, with their tails spread so as to
form a temporary dam and expose the fish below it; they
Onocrotalus.
expose
8 Turdus roseus, the Smurraur of the Syrians.
3 L 2