Birds from the White Nile. f3 



95. Leptoptilus crumenifer (Less.). The farther south we 

 pame, as we went up the river, the more common the Marabou 

 [vas found to be. On our way back along the river from Om- 

 lurman to Shendy, I met with an enormous flock of the ugly 

 birds on the 29 th of April not very far from Shendy. Nowhere 

 jilse I saw upwards of a dozen or so of them together. At our 

 southernmost camp they were tolerably tame, but everywhere else 

 it was difficult enough to approach them. Most of those we 

 railed were shot with my rifle or the Mauser carbine. During 

 |:he hottest days the Marabou placed itself with outspread wings, 

 burning its breast against the wind. 



96. Pseudotantalus ibis (L.). About half-way between Om- 

 jiurman and ed Dueim we met with this bird and from Abba 

 llsland southwards we often saw it single as well as in enormous 

 iflocks. .Also along the 6 th cataract it was not uncommon at the 

 (end of April. I observed this bird during the heat taking the 

 same position as the Marabou. 



97. Phalacrocorax africanus (Gm.). On our way southwards 

 we first observed this cormorant a little south of Dueim but going 

 down the river I observed a few of them at the 6 th cataract 

 between Omdurman and Shendy. Like the Anhinga it was very 

 fond of sitting in the Ambadj hedges, which border the river. 



98. Anhinga rufa (Lacep. Daud.). On our way southwards 

 in February we did not observe this interesting bird until we 

 approached the so called Shellal G-ebelein, a place situated a 

 few miles north of Gebelein, where some small islands and rocks 

 make the current swifter. And the farther south we came, the 

 more abundant was the Anhinga. On our way home in April, 

 however, we met with it much farther north. — At Shellal 

 G-ebelein it was very common, but north of that place the 

 Anhinga, like the cormorants, so far as I could make out, only 

 haunted rocky places with swifter currents in the river; thus 



I for instance near Gebel Auli and in the sixth cataract where, 



| on our way northwards, I shot a specimen with my carbine on 



; the 26 th of April. This point may coincide with the northern 



limit of the species. Also the Anhinga was often seen with 



outspread wings and the breast against the wind. 



