460 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



our putting on head nets and gloves in the evenings, and 

 they would have made sleep impossible if we had not had 

 mosquito biers. Nevertheless it was a very pleasant camp, 

 and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a wild, lonely coun- 

 try, and we saw no human beings except an occasional 

 party of naked savages armed with bows and poisoned 

 arrows. Game was plentiful, and a hunter always enjoys a 

 permanent camp in a good game country; for while the 

 expedition is marching, his movements must largely be 

 regulated by those of the safari, whereas at a permanent 

 camp he is foot-loose. 



There was an abundance of animal life, big and little, 

 about our camp. In the reeds, and among the water- 

 lilies of the bay, there were crocodiles, monitor lizards six 

 feet long, and many water birds herons, flocks of beauti- 

 ful white egrets, clamorous spur-winged plover, sacred 

 ibis, noisy purple ibis, saddle-billed storks, and lily trotters 

 which ran lightly over the lily pads. There were cormo- 

 rants 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 bulbuls sang noisily. 

 There were many kingfishers, some no larger than chippy 

 sparrows, and many of them brilliantly colored; 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 par- 

 adise 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 pliable 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 



