140 SOME BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



and round at a great height in the air. Mr. M., in his 

 collection of skins, which is I should think the best 

 collection of Knysna birds to be found anywhere, has 

 some very fine specimens of these eagles. 



There are one or two small streams, which, starting 

 in the seclusion of the forest, find their way down through 

 wooded valleys into the main river near Knysna. The 

 largest of these little tributaries goes by the name of the 

 Salt River, though to be sure it is but a small river 

 and hardly worthy of the name. This stream in its lower 

 reaches is almost entirely dependent for its supply of 

 water on the main river, as the main river itself is 

 dependent on the tide, and at its mouth the Salt River 

 is a miniature of the estuary, mimicking at low tide the 

 various islands of the latter by small mud banks and 

 sand banks, left high and dry, the former over-grown 

 here and there with rushes. The same birds, more- 

 over, that frequent the main river are to be seen here. 

 Single birds mostly, and those of a kind constantly on 

 the lookout for danger, are the frequenters of this 

 particular spot, and near the stone bridge which spans 

 the stream where it joins the estuary a Curlew or a 

 Heron may often be seen, standing knee deep in the 

 water and feeding in a slow and cautious way. 



Higher up, where the tide has drained the water 

 away, stands a Little Egret, his white plumage showing 

 conspicuously among the rushes that grow on the mud 

 bank by which he is feeding and listening, for he seems 

 to do most of the latter. He takes but little notice 

 of the pistol-like crack of the whip as the heavy waggon, 

 drawn by its team of oxen, lumbers over the bridge, 

 and no notice whatever of the pit of the Kingfisher 



