376 Mr. A. L. Butler on the 



I think, a very old bird. It is fed entirely on small fishes, or. 

 when these cannot be procured, pieces of fish given to it in 

 a bucket of water. It seems to be rather a quarrelsome 

 bird : on its first arrival in Khartoum it seized a fox-terrier 

 which approached it so sharply that the dog fairly yelled ; 

 on another occasion it promptly attacked a younger bird of 

 its own species, which I introduced to it as a companion, 

 driving the hook of its upper mandible deeply through the 

 horny sheath of the other's bill. It is capable of inflicting 

 a powerful bite, the sharp cutting-edges of the mandibles 

 leaving four deep cuts on a wrist or finger. This individual 

 shews no disposition whatever to enter water, and seems to 

 prefer the driest and sunniest spots in the garden. 



In February 1902 two Balcsniceps nestlings were procured 

 by Lieut. Fell, R.N., from the natives on the Jur River, and 

 sent down to me to take charge of (see text-fig. 19, p. 374). 

 I happened to meet them on the river, and they shared my 

 boat for some time. One unfortunately died of suffocation, 

 caused by a bunch of threadworms passing up into its throat ; 

 t lie other, along with two more subsequently obtained by the 

 same officer from the same locality, throve well, and these 

 three birds are now in the Egyptian Zoological Gardens at 

 Giza in the best of health. They have a curious trick of 

 repeatedly bringing up their food before finally swallowing and 

 retaining it ; this often results in the disgorged fishes being 

 snatched up by Kites, and the birds require careful watching 

 to prevent their losing much of their food in this way. 



Bahcuiceps in captivity, when approached by anyone that 

 it knows, frequently raises its head in the air and clatters 

 its bill rapidly and loudly, the only Stork-like trait which 

 it shews. 



Nestlings are covered with grey down of a fulvous tinge. 

 On account of its rarity and interest, and the restricted 

 area that it inhabits, this bird is most strictly protected by 

 the Soudan Government. 



My female specimen was shot, by permission, for the 

 Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, and was 

 presented to that institution by Sir Reginald Wingate. It 

 lias been well mounted, in a correct attitude, and is rightly 



