::::::::sE OASIS AND DESERT ae:::::::: 



We learned that early in the morning even greater 

 numbers of ducks congregated here, so one day an 

 early start brought us to the Blue Water before the 

 mornino' chill was out of the air. A search some dis- 

 tance upstream revealed a fallen log bridge, which we 

 crossed, and, hidden by the tall undergrowth, we made 

 our way down to the marsh bordering the lake itself. 

 Crouching among the reeds at the edge, we enjoyed 

 an uninterrupted view of this paradise of water-birds. 

 Hundreds of rippling wakes intersected each other as 

 coots, gallinules, ducks of many species, and occasion- 

 ally sandpipers, swam here and there ; the webbed 

 swimmers turning tail upward and gleaning from the 

 muddy bottom ; the snipes and sandpipers scurrying 

 in the shallows. Out near the centre of the shallow 

 lake, near the edge of a small islet, were several birds 

 Avhicli we had lono- looked forward to seeino^ — Black- 

 necked Stilts. Perfectly unconscious of being watched, 

 they were taking an early morning bath, doubling up 

 their slender legs and beating the water with their 

 wings, exactly as flamingoes bathe. When thoroughly 

 wet they flew one after another to a mud-bank, shook 

 the water from their plumage in a shower of drops, and 

 arranged every feather in place, standing in a row 

 facino; the rising- sun. 



Ducks whistled close over our heads, arriving in 

 small flocks and settling upon the water with a slither 

 which raised a multitude of ripples. And now a louder 



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