learning, was likewife put to the throat of the Goat; by this means are young Falcons taught to fix their talons in the throat of the animal, as being the properest part; for fhould the Falcon fix them in the creature's hip, or fome other part of the body, the huntsman would not only lose his game, but his Falcon alfo: for the animal, roused by the wound, which could not prove mortal, would run to the defarts, and the tops of the mountains, whither its enemy keeping its hold, would be obliged to follow; and, being feparated from its master, must of course perish. 12. Capra Angorenfis ". The Mohair Goat. THE Mohair Goats are a fingular variety of the common Goats, being famous for their foft and filver-white hairs, the like of which are not to be found in any place but Angora. The English and Dutch have long, to their great advantage, made the Mohair Goats one of the principal articles of their Levant trade. The fine English camlets are made of the hair, which is commonly carried ready fpun to Europe; and, being there woven, is afterwards exported to all parts of the world, even to those whence the yarn was originally brought. The French at prefent have fome fhare of the profit refulting from this trade; but nobody could ever hit on a furer and more judicious method of making this valuable commodity ferviceable to his country, than Mr. Alftroemer, one of the Swedish Lords of Trade, who got the animal to Sweden, with an intention to propagate it there. We received this day four of them, fent by Mr. Bicerling, Lin. Syft. Nat. P. 68. N. 13. from from Angora to Smyrna: he was fent thither by Mr. Alstroemer, for this purpose. This is the handfomeft creature of the kind I ever met with, and differs from the common Goat, in having longer hair, a fhorter body, fhorter legs, broader and flatter fides, and lefs and ftraiter horns. I fhould almost conclude it to be a diftinct fpecies; and the rather, as it continues its breed without degenerating. 13. Ovis Aries. The Sheep, I HAVE obferved a cruft growing on the teeth of the Sheep in Egypt, which hath entirely the appearance of a Pyrites. It appears chiefly at the time when they feed on grafs, which is fcarcely any thing but Lucern. I have heard that this is alfo common to the Sheep of Antiliban. Lin. Syft. Nat. P. 70. N. 1. CLASSIS CLASSIS A VE S. BIRD S. II. 14. Vultur Percnopterus. The Egyptian Vultur. 15. Strix Otus. The Horn Owl. 16. Strix orientalis. The Oriental Owl. 17. Pfittacus Alexandri. The Parrot of Alexander. 18. Pfittacus obfcurus. A Parrot from Africa. 19. Upupa Pyrrhocoax. The Black Hoop. 20. Corvus ægyptius. The Egyptian Crow. 21. Pirus minor. The Leffer Woodpecker.ieee. 22. Alcedo rudis. The Perfian Kings-fifher. 23. Alcedo ægyptia. The Egyptian Kings-fisher. 24. Merops Apiafter. The Bee-catcher. 25. Ardea Ibis. The Ibis of the Egyptians. 26. Tringa ægyptiaca. The Egyptian Plover. 27. Tringa autumnalis. The Autumnal Plover. 28. Tringa fubtridactyla. The Three-toed Plover. 29. Charadrius Himantopus. The Autumnal Dotterell. 30. Charadrius alexandrinus. The Alexandrian Dotterell. 31. Charadrius ægyptius. The Egyptian Dotterell. 32. Charadrius Kervan. The Oriental Dotterell. 33. Charadrius fpinofus. The Armed Dotterell. 34. Fulica atra. The Coote. 35. Anas 35. Anas damiatica. The Damiatick Duck. 40. Sterna nigricans. The Black Sea Swallow. 45. Columbæ variæ. Several forts of Pigeons. 48. Emberiza melitenfis. The Eastern Bunting. 14. Vultus Percnopterus 2. The Egyptian Vultur. THE HEY light in great flocks on the lay-ftalls near the city of Cairo, and there promifcuously feed, together with the Dogs and other beafts, on dead carcafes and other offal. They affemble with the Kites every morning and evening, in the fquare called Rohneli, below the castle (which is the place for executing capital offenders) there to receive the alms of fresh meat, left them by the legacies of wealthy great men. THE appearance of the bird is as horrid as can well be imagined, viz. The face is naked and wrinkled, the eyes are large and black, the beak black and hooked, the talons large, and extended a Lin. Syft. Nat. P. 87. N. 6. ready ready for prey, and the whole body polluted with filth: these are qualities enough to make the beholder fhudder with horror. Notwithstanding this, the inhabitants of Egypt cannot be enough thankful to Providence for this bird. All the places round Cairo are filled with the dead bodies of affes and camels; and thousands of these birds fly about, and devour the carcafes, before they putrify and fill the air with noxious exhalations. The inhabitants of Egypt, and after them Maillet, in his Defcription of Egypt, fay, that they yearly follow the caravan to Mecca, and devour the filth of the flaughtered beafts, and the carcafes of the camels, which die on the journey; but I have not been an eye-witnefs of this. They don't fly high, nor are they afraid of men. If one is killed, all the reft furround him, in the fame manner as do the Royfton crows; they do not quit the places they frequent, though frightened by the explosion of a gun, but immediately return thither. I am not of opinion that this bird eats infects or worms, as it is fcarcely ever seen in the fields and lakes; nor do the other fpecies of this genus admire that diet. Maitlet imagines this bird to be the Ibis of the ancients; but, I think, his opinion has not the leaft appearance of truth. We can scarcely be induced to imagine, that a wife nation fhould pay fuch honours to an unclean, impure, and rapacious bird, which was not perhaps fo common, before the Egyptians filled the ftreets with carcafes. If the Ibis is to be found, it must certainly be looked for in the Ordo of Grallæ of Linnæus; and I imagine it to be the White Heron, which is fo common in Egypt. The Arabians call it Rochæme; the French, living in Egypt, give it the name of Chapon de Pharaon, or de Mahometh: Maillet fays, it is fo called, because it reQ 2 fembles |