152 BIRDS 



I once saw on Damba some extraordinarily long legged 

 birds that presumably were Stilts, but they are far from 

 common. The locality was a very marshy piece of shore, 

 also frequented by snipe. 



On Kome, in 1914, were seen some plovers which had 

 not been met with previously, nor have I seen them since, 

 although there are large areas of marshy shore similar to 

 the locality where they were seen. 



The colouration was roughly as follows : Back grey, 

 belly white, chest and back of neck black, face and front 

 of neck white. When flying the bird shows black and white 

 wings. Subsequently, in ex-German East Africa, a bird 

 of something the same type was seen commonly on open 

 grassy plains. This was termed " Kibiki " by South 

 Africans. 



Another species of the plover group was heard flying 

 overhead at night time on Kome. Its cry became very 

 familiar, and was apparently responsible for the name 

 " Empunya " given to the bird by the natives. Since 

 the meaning of this word would be something connected 

 with the word for " to smell, or emit an odour," it is 

 probably merely onomatopoeic, and is quite descriptive of 

 the cry. 



Cra7ies are represented in Uganda by one species of 

 crowned crane (Balearica regulorum), a most orna- 

 mental and graceful bird which would be a splendid 

 addition to the peacocks and pheasants often kept to 

 ornament a park. The soft brown and grey and yellow 

 hues, with velvety black head furnished with scarlet 

 wattles and erectile crest, make it a most lovely bird, 

 and its quaint antics when with others of its kind give it 

 additional interest. 



Unfortunately they are very seldom met with on the 

 smaller islands, and even on Kome and Bugalla are rare ; 

 and I never saw a flock such as may be seen at Entebbe 

 or Jinja. Their cry has earned for them the Luganda 



