-^ In a Primeval Forest 



water-lilies, give a kind of symmetry to the wilderness, 

 we come upon such a wealth of bird-life as enables us to 

 form some notion of what this may have been in Europe 

 long ago under similar conditions. The splendid great 

 white heron [Herodias alba, L., and garzetta, L.) and 

 great flocks of the active little cow-herons {Bubulcus ibis, L.) 

 make their appearance in company with sacred ibises and 

 form a splendid picture in the landscape. Some species 

 of those birds with their snow-white feathers stand out 

 picturesquely against the rich green vegetation of the 

 swamp. When, startled by our approach, these birds take 

 to flight, and the whole air is filled by them and by the 

 curlews {Glareola fusca, L.) that have hovered over us, 

 keeping up continually their soft call, when in every direc- 

 tion we see all the swarms of other birds — sea-swallows 

 {Gelochehdon nilotica, Hasselg.), lapwings, plovers {Ckara- 

 driidce), Egyptian geese, herons, pelicans, crested cranes 

 and storks — the effect upon our eyes and ears is almost 

 overpowering. 



How mortal lives are intertwined and interwoven ! The 

 ox-peckers swarm round the buffaloes and protect them 

 from their pests, the ticks and other parasites. The small 

 species of marsh-fowl rely upon the warning cry of the 

 Egyptian geese or on the sharpness of the herons, ever on 

 the alert and signalling always the lightning-like approach 

 of their enemy the falcons (Falco biarmictis, Tem., and 

 F. minor ^ Bp.). All alike have sense enough to steer clear 

 of the crocodiles, which have to look to fish chiefly for their 

 nourishment, like almost all the frequenters of these marshy 

 regions. 



355 



