Ornithology of the Egyptian Soudan. 377 



much valued. Obtaining a specimen is a matter of consider- 

 able difficulty. The birds are very wild, and long; rifle- 

 shots from a moving and vibrating steamer are not easy 

 to bring off. In this particular case, after 1 had quite 

 finished with the bird (i.e. missed it standing at 100 yards) 

 Mr. Middleton, the Engineer of the 'Metemmeh,' whom 

 I had asked to assist me in getting a specimen, cut it down 

 in full flight with a 303 at a long distance — a very pretty, 

 if not lucky, shot. 



The measurements of this example (?) were: — Length 

 47 inches; tail 11 ; tarsus 10; wing 26f. 



The stomach contained four fishes (Polijpterus from 5 to 

 6 inches long) and the jaw of a rat. This bird had distinct, but 

 irregular and not very deep, pectinations on the middle claws. 



The exact breeding-place of this bird described by 

 Petherick has not been rediscovered. Our nestlings were 

 obtained from the Dinka natives on the Jur River. The 

 only first-hand information about its breeding-habits which I 

 have been able to obtain is from Col.-Sergt. Sears, Egyptian 

 Army, who has been a good deal employed in sudd-cutting 

 operations in this region. He tells me that he has 

 frequently seen the nests with young birds, on the plains 

 inland from the Jur, at the end of March and beginning of 

 April. He describes the nests as mere flattened-down spots 

 in the high grass on dry ground ; they were found singly, and 

 not in colonies, and contained one or two young only in 

 each case. The eggs he had never seen. 



In its solitary nature, its motionless watching for its prey 

 and the nature of its food, as in the colour of its plumage 

 and the presence of " powder-down" patches, Bataniceps is 

 a Heron, though an aberrant one, and seems to have little 

 affinity with the Storks. 



243. Scopus umbketta Gmel. 



The curious Hammerhead, though nowhere very abundant, 

 occurs in certain places from east to west of the country 

 south of about the 16th degree of N. lat. 



It reaches Kassala in the rains, remaining as long as the 

 pools continue to hold water. At Gallabat in May 1901 I 



