240 Mr. H. F. ^Yitherhy—Or7^itholo(/ical 



objected to growing corn for the benefit of their former lord 

 and master the Khalifa. 



Owing to the very large amount of land that has gone out 

 of cultivation, and to the time of our visit — the height of the 

 driest of dry seasons — there was very little vegetation. The 

 trees were mostly leafless, the grass was brown and dead, 

 "while the crops consisted of little more than a patch of 

 beans here and there or a little cotton. In fact, this period 

 of the year, althougli the hottest, might be termed the winter 

 in the Soudan. Consequently very few birds were breeding, 

 and notwithstanding many enquiries from Europeans and 

 natives, I was unable to discover when the general breeding- 

 season began. If there is one at all, it is probably after 

 the heavy rains, which commence about the end of June. 

 The river then rises and eventually floods miles of land on 

 each bank. This, with the rains, must entirely alter the 

 character of the country, and provide abundant vegetation, 

 insect-life, and other food for birds. 



We obtained our specimens, of course, chiefly by the river 

 and amongst the trees and thick bushes. The scrub beyond 

 the belt was rarely dense and seldom contained many birds, 

 while in the desert country still further from the river Sand- 

 Grouse were almost the only species to be found. 



Except by their inveterate laziness and decided indepen- 

 dence, the natives of these parts gave us little trouble. 

 Neither did they give us any help. They appeared to be 

 singularly unobservant, and to take no notice of the birds 

 and other wild animals around them. 



The greatest enemy to collecting was found in the tempera- 

 ture. At Omdurman during April and May the maximum 

 ranged from 100° to 115° Fahrenheit during the day, as 

 registered by thermometers in a sci'een in the doctors' 

 compound. Besides damaging ammunition, provisions, 

 photographic materials, and so forth, this great heat caused 

 birds to go rotten in three or four hours during the day, while 

 it was never safe to keep anything shot overnight to be 

 skinned in the morning. 



Sandstorms were frequent; and collecting or skinning 

 while a sandstorm is raging is hardly possible. 



