Excursion to the Victoria Falls. 109 



Birds were not so numerous as I expected them to be, 

 either on the river itself or in the bush and scrub along 

 the banks. 



The first morning I saw a pair of the "Berg Grans ,; 

 {Chenalopex cegyptiacus) standing on a rock just above 

 the Falls themselves, while River-Duikers (Phalacrocoraa 

 africanus) and Snake-birds (Plotus levaillanti) could be 

 observed at all times and in all sorts of places along the river, 

 both of them generally sitting motionless and upright on a 

 projecting rock, and only moving off in a leisurely manner 

 when approached quite closely. 



Kingfishers, as might be expected, are very numerous on 

 the Zambesi, both as regards individuals and species ; the 

 smaller Black -and- White Kingfisher [Ceryle rudis) is perhaps 

 the most common, but the larger (C. maxima) is by no means 

 rare, and it is a beautiful sight to see it poised in the 

 air, with its head and beak pointed directly downwards and 

 its wings vibrating rapidly, before making a dash on the 

 unsuspecting fish below. 



Flying around the actual Falls, in and out of the clouds 

 of rising spray, was a pair of Hawks, which, however, I 

 was never able to identify satisfactorily, also a number of 

 small Swallows with white under-parts ; these, I believe, 

 were Hirundo dimidiata, the Pearl-breasted Swallow, but 1 

 Avas unable to secure an example, and consequently could 

 not be quite certain. Playing about the rocks at the Falls, 

 too, were several pairs of the handsome black-and-white 

 Wagtail (Motacilla vidua) which were running up and down 

 and taking short flights in search of insects and grubs. 



In the so-called " Rain-Forest," and in the bush around 

 the Falls and along the banks of the river above, were 

 a good many small birds. The Three-streaked Bush-Shrike 

 {Telephonus austratis), noticeable for its clear melodious 

 whistle, sat very tamely on the branches of the bare trees. 

 Emerald-spotted Doves (Chalcopelia afra) and Cape Turtle- 

 Doves {Turtur capicola) were very plentiful, the cry of the 

 former being one of the mosc characteristic sounds on the 

 Zambesi — " hoo hoo hoo-hoo " in a gradually descending 

 scale. Round the blossoms of some of the larger trees 



