Boros István (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 51. (Budapest 1959)

Horváth, L.: The results of the zoological collecting trip to Egypt in 1957, of the Natural History Museum, Budapest 7. The ornithological results

These allow the inference that the kestrels, at least those from Southern Europe, appear very early in Egypt, again supporting the rule that the more southern populations of a species start earlier for their winterquarters than do the others. Of the 7 collected specimens, 3 proved to be rupicolaeformis (2 males, one of them a juvenile, Kom Oshim on 12 October; 1 female, Helwan on 10 November). Egyptian Kite (Milvus migrans migrans Bodd., M. m. aegyptius Gnu) I may summarize my observations in Egypt as follows. I did not observe a single specimen on the coastal region of the Red Sea between Marsa el 'Alam and Suez, nor in the Arab Desert between Idfu and Marsa el 'Alam or Suez and Heliopolis. The Egyptian kite occurs therefore, similarly to the kestrel, only in the Delta and in the valley of the Nile. It can be stated generally that it is much more frequent in settlements than outside of them, indeed, their numbers are in a direct proportion to the size of the human habitations. My observations concerning this species in Egypt were made between 2 September and 22 November. I sighted 24 specimens in Alexandria between 2 — 8 September, but none on our way back. I noted 20 specimens between Alexandria and Cairo on 9 September, and these, too, mainly over villages (though I saw only one specimen in Damanhur, whilst there were 8 birds circling above Tanta). I stayed in Cairo from 10 September till 5 October. During 10—15 September, I noted but 4—9 specimens daily over the city, whilst, between 16—22 September, their numbers increased suddenly and in a rapid rate, being visible in masses in every part of the city and at all times on the last day. Their number then just as rapidly decreased on 22 September, and from then on, discounting 29 September, they could be noted in their former numbers only (5 —10 specimens daily) till 5 October. On 29 September, and on this one day alone, they again appeared in large numbers. The sudden increase of their numbers between 16—22 September and on 29 September, as also their rapid decrease after 22 and 29 September, indicates that large flocks arriving from the N must have passed over Cairo, respectively on these dates. On my excursions in the neighbourhood of Cairo, I never noted more than 4 — 5 specimens around Gizeh, Abu Rawash, Helwan, Saqqara, Memphis, Heliopolis ; whilst there were visible but 1 or 2 specimens on our route from and to Cairo. The two large passages noted over Cairo indicate that these kites belonged to the nominate form, whilst the individuals observed between Alexandria and Cairo and those noted on dates aside of the passages and in the distant areas of the city were surley of the subspecies aegyptius Gm. A subspecific identification of the birds — especially of the juveniles — circling high over the city was, in the majority of the cases, utterly impossible. The number of the birds occurring, or more exactly, noted between Cairo and Aswan could be established rather exactly. I observed a total of 368 specimens in a rather uniform dispersion on this route between 10—28 October. The above statement, that it is visible in disproportionately larger numbers over settlements than over uninhabited areas, is, of course, valid also for this region. On our return journey, it was visible in the earlier small numbers (5—10 specimens daily) in Cairo, between 7—13 November. Its numbers increased again suddenly on 14 November, and the large amount of birds disappeared