200 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



Sheldrakes too in flocks rose up before us, with deep 

 honking goose-like cries, their white wings glistening 

 like silver in the early morning sunlight. Other sounds 

 came from a great way off, faintly heard, a shrill con- 

 fused buzzing clangour as of a swarm of bees passing 

 overhead, and looking that way we saw a cloud rising 

 out of the reeds and water, then another and another 

 still — clouds of birds, each its own colour, white, black, 

 and brown, according to the species — gulls, black terns, 

 and wild duck. Seen at that distance they appeared like 

 clouds of starlings in the evening at their winter roost- 

 ing haunts. Presently the clouds dispersed or settled 

 on the water again, and for a little space it seemed a 

 silent world. Then a new sound was heard from some 

 distant spot perhaps a mile away — a great chorus of 

 wild ringing jubilant cries, echoing and re-echoing all 

 over that illimitable water expanse; and I knew it was 

 the crane — the giant crane that hath a trumpet sound! 



These birds were all very real to me, seen very 

 vividly, their voices so loud and clear that they startled 

 and thrilled me; but the long-haired brown-skinned 

 marshman who was my boatman was seen less dis- 

 tinctly. The anthropological reader will be disappointed 

 to learn that no clear image was retained of his height, 

 build, features, and the colour of his eyes and hair, and 

 that the sense of all his wild jabber and gestures has 

 quite gone out of my memory. 



From all this greatness of wild bird life, seen in a 

 vision, I returned to reality and to very small things; 

 one of which came as a pleasant surprise. I went on to 



