2 Hon. N. C. Rothschild and ^h\ A. F. R. AVollastou 



existence there of a strip of grass, from \Yhich a poor forage 

 is obtained. This strip of grass, about half a mile wide, 

 runs along the east bank of the river for two or three miles 

 southwards from Shendi ; on the river side it is fringed by a 

 few palm-trees, a few strips of cultivated land, and patches 

 of thick tangles of acacia, broom, tamarisk, and Sodom-apple 

 {Calotropis jjrocera) ; while on the landward side it is bounded 

 by a very dense scrub of acacia and mimosa, which becomes 

 gradually thinner towards the desert. 



As is well known, the desert of this region is not like that 

 of Egypt or Nubia, a desolate waste of fine sand with not 

 even a tree or a blade of grass for hundreds of miles, but 

 it is fairly uniformly covered with scattered acacia-trees 

 varying in height from ten to twenty feet, and here and 

 there with small patches of a fine hair-like, almost white, 

 grass. Occasionally one comes across a " khor," or wide, 

 shallow, dried-up watercourse, which becomes an arm of 

 the Nile during the rainy season; and at a distance of 

 about eight to ten miles from the river is a range of low 

 rocky hills, the highest rising perhaps four hundred feet 

 above its level. 



It will thus be seen that the country can be roughly 

 divided up into four separate regions, each characterized 

 by its own distinct fauna: — first, the river and its mud 

 banks (with Terns, Pelicans, Geese, and Waders) ; second, 

 the grass and scrub fringing the river (Avith Pigeons, Larks, 

 Cisticulce, Weavers, and Horn bills) ; third, the desert (with 

 Wheatears, Slirikes, Crows, and Sand-Grouse) ; and fourth, 

 the hills (with Rock-Thrushes, Eaglc-Owls, and Vultures). 



Our camp was pitched on the river-bank, and it was in 

 the second region, that of the grass and scrub, that the 

 majority of our birds were obtained. 



In selecting a time of year suitable for a vi^it to the 

 Sudan, one should endeavour to arrive there in November 

 or December, when the w eather is comparatively cool ; but 

 though it became exceedingly hot fllO°-120° F. in the 

 shade) towards the end of March, this drawback was more 

 than counterbalanced bv our "ood fortune in finding a 



