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of the Crowned Cranes and the twanging " kang-unga " 

 of Black Ibis as parties of them fly over from the 

 swamps or mud-flats where they feed. In the evening 

 too the Swallows hawk much more actively up and 

 down the river, sharing the abundant feast with red 

 and blue Bee-eaters, while gorgeous, but heavily built 

 Rollers are conspicuous here and there along the bank, 

 sitting on the outlying branches of the trees, whence 

 they at frequent intervals pounce down on to any 

 grasshopper, locust or other large insect which they 

 may espy. In places where the long grass conies 

 right down to the water's edge, parties of the little 

 green and buff" dwarf Bee-eaters are sure to be seen 

 clinging to the tall grass stems, or flitting backwards 

 and forwards along the river margin in much the same 

 way the Sand-Martins do at home ; among this same 

 long grass they will a little later on settle down for the 

 night, but not till they have previously spent some 

 little time in bickering for the perches most in 

 demand. Coucals, the black, brown and fawn Lark- 

 heeled Cuckoos, hop heavily among the branches, 

 singly or in pairs, an occasional brilliant splash of 

 cobalt and carmine against the glossy green of some 

 dense palm-thicket marks the passing of a jungle- 

 loving Touraco, while noisy flocks of Glossy Starlings 

 wheel about in screaming companies like ours at home 

 before dropping down to their sleeping places ; then 

 later on as the light rapidly fails out come Nightjars, 

 among which may be seen one or two of the extra- 

 ordinary Standard-winged Nightjars, which as they 

 fly along with their two elongated racket-ended wing 

 feathers fluttering behind, look for all the world like 

 some Owl being mobbed by a couple of Sparrows ; a 



