1 94 Stray Feathers. [ 7 thjan. 



described. Night birds seem conspicuous by their absence, and 

 I fancy there can be but few, if any, on the island. A gentleman 

 who has lived on the island for years tells me that he has only 

 seen two Owls during his residence here. Of course the terrible 

 fever of destroying must possess him, and although the poor birds 

 had taken up their abode on his home he destroyed them for 

 the sheer sake of killing. I have shot several Kingfishers here. 

 One species, a very small one, but a most elegant bird, keeps 

 very closely to the reeds and rushes and it is with great difficulty 

 one can get them out. Strange to say, although Hornbills are 

 fairly plentiful on the coast, not one species is to be found on 

 the island. Possibly I should say I have not come across any 

 and cannot get any information relating to them. I shot a very 

 pretty little Kite, which seems to me to resemble our Black- 

 shouldered variety, but might be the one described by Sharpe 

 as the Blue Kite. I came across several large waterholes in the 

 forests, many of which were half a mile long, generally not more 

 than 200 yards wide, but in many places very deep. The lily 

 plants growing in — in fact, covering — these waterholes were very 

 tine ; leaves two feet across, and the beautiful rich blue flowers 

 the size of large tea-cups, the banks being fringed by high rushes. 

 I could not induce the natives to go into these holes and had at 

 last to go in myself. Still I have been rewarded, for I shot 

 several strange water birds, a beautiful little Red-headed Duck, 

 a very small Bittern, and several Nankeen Herons, as well as the 

 African Jacana ; also a Water-Crake like our Little Crake of 

 Australia. It must suffice to say that I have shot about 100 

 birds on the island, of about 40 species, and have collected some 

 fine bats and mammals, also flies, so you can see I am not idle. 

 Am now about to start for the German East Coast again and 

 make another attempt to go as far north as Lamu, to collect 

 Waders in deep lakes and marshes there ; then to work in to 

 Lake Victoria Nyanza, and do Madagascar on my return. — 

 S. A. White. Zanzibar, East Africa, 24/8/03. 



[Captain White has taken many photographs during his 

 African travels. He sends one depicting a number of swarthy 

 natives pushing his little ship through the surf at Zanzibar, 

 preparatory to sailing for an island seldom visited. — Eds.] 



From Magazines, &c. 



lx The Croydon Mining News (14/8/03) a correspondent gives 

 the following important information on the usefulness of the 

 much-abused Crows in the Gulf of Carpentaria district : — " The 

 most wonderful thing I have seen, and which I feel almost 

 certain bids fair to put an entirely new aspect on the tick question, 

 is the game the Crows are playing up here. I saw four instances 

 of it in a journey of 40 miles, and the last clearly defined illustra- 

 tion, within a mile of the Vanrook homestead, amongst what I 



