-»i In a Primeval Forest 



nothing but a certain mild surprise — at the sight of 

 man. 



Now, with a noisy clattering of wings, those less 

 comely creatures, the Hagedasch ibises, rise in front of 

 us, filling the air with their extraordinary cry: "Heiha! 

 Haheiha!" 



Now we have a strange spectacle before our eyes — a 

 number of wild geese, perched upon the trees. The great, 

 heavy birds make several false starts before they make up 

 their minds to escape to safety. They present a beautiful 

 sight as they make ofT on their powerful wings. They are 

 rightly styled "spurred geese," by reason of the sharp 

 spurs they have on their wings. Hammerheads {Scopus 

 umbretta, Gm.) move about in all directions. A colony 

 of darters now comes into sight, and monopolises my 

 attention. A few of their flat-shaped nests are visible 

 among the pendent branches of some huge acacias, rising 

 from an island in mid-stream. While several of the long- 

 necked fishing-birds seek safety in flight, others — clearly the 

 females — remain seated awhile on the eggs in their nests, 

 but at last, with a sudden dart, take also to their wings 

 and disappear. Beneath the nesting-places of these birds 

 I found great hidden shaded cavities, the resorts for ages 

 past of hippopotami, which find a safe and comfortable 

 haven in these small islands. 



The dark forms of these fishing-birds present a strange 

 appearance in full flight. They speed past you swiftly, 

 looking more like survivals from some earlier age than 

 like birds of our own day. There is a suggestion of flying 

 lizards about them. Here they come, describing a great 



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