Ornithology of the Egyptian Soudan. 393 



plain between Gcdarcf and tlie Blue Nile, where jackals were 

 numerous, which probably accounted for the circumstance. 

 The next morning I met an old black carrying, slung on his 

 camel, a Bustard with its head eaten off, and a jackal with 

 its throat cut. The man had come upon the jackal when it had 

 just killed the bird ; he had stalked and knocked it over with 

 a throwing- stick, and was looking forward to eating both ! 



Taken young these Bustards become very tame, evincing 

 considerable affection for their owners and making delightful 

 pets. 



I have only once succeeded in finding an egg : it was on 

 April 19th, at Urn Muttra Meila. 



These Bustards, though frequent and regular drinkers 

 when near water, are often met with at great distances from 

 it. Like so many other birds and animals in the Soudan, 

 they seem capable of dispensing with water for a time, when 

 necessary, without suffering much inconvenience. Probably, 

 with their powers of flight, these abstinences are never very 

 long. 



Eupodotis kori Burch. I have never seen. It must be 

 very scarce. 



296. Balearica pavonina (Linn.). 



The beautiful Crowned Crane is common — and in places 

 very abundant — on both Niles and on their tributaries. I 

 have not seen it north of the 16th degree of N. lat. It is a 

 resident species, and appears to breed freely on the White 

 Nile, but I have not myself seen its nest. The native name 

 " Garnook " is an apt imitation of the bird's loud trumpet- 

 like call. These Cranes are favourite garden-pets in the 

 Soudan, and can generally be purchased in Omdurman. In 

 a wild state they seem singularly fearless of crocodiles ; I 

 have often seen them standing on a sand-bank all round the 

 sleeping monsters, and I once watched one through glasses 

 pecking something from a ten-foot crocodile's armoured hide. 



The drawings of this graceful bird by Sir Harry Johnston 

 are excellent, its characteristic attitudes being admirably 

 caught. 



