CH. xiv] FLYCATCHERS, ETC. 391 



were cormorants and snake-birds. Fish-eagles screamed 

 as they circled around— very handsome birds, the head, 

 neck, tail, breast, and forepart of the back white, the 

 rest of the plumage black and rich chestnut. There 

 was a queer little eagle owl with inflamed red eyelids. 

 The black and red liulbuls sang noisily. There were 

 many kingfishers, some no larger than chippy sparrows, 

 and many of them brilliantly coloured ; some had, and 

 others had not, the regular kingfisher voice ; and while 

 some dwelt by the river bank and caught fish, others 

 did not come near the water and lived on insects. 

 There were paradise flycatchers, with long, wavy white 

 tails : and olive-green pigeons, with yellow bellies. Red- 

 headed, red-tailed lizards ran swiftly up and down the 

 trees. The most extraordinary birds were the nightjars ; 

 the cocks carried in each wing one very long, waving 

 plume, the phable quill being twice the length of the 

 bird's body and tail, and bare except for a patch of dark 

 feather webbing at the end. The two big, dark plume 

 tips were very conspicuous, trailing behind the bird as 

 it flew, and so riveting the observer's attention as to 

 make the bird itself almost escape notice. AVhen seen 

 flying, the first impression conveyed was of two large, 

 dark moths or butterflies fluttering rapidly through the 

 air ; it was with a positive effort of the eye that 1 fixed 

 the actual bird. The big slate and yellow bats were 

 more interesting still. There were several kinds of bats 

 at this camp ; a small dark kind that appeared only 

 when night had fallen and flew very near the ground all 

 night long, and a somewhat larger one, lighter beneath, 

 which appeared late in the evening and flew higher in 

 the air. Both of these had the ordinary bat habits of 

 continuous, swallow-like flight. Hut the habits of the 

 slate and yellow bats were utterly different. They were 



