GAME BIRDS 23 



lining to it of any kind. It contained two eggs covered 

 with brownish blotches ; they were an exact oval in 

 form and measured 1.55 by i.i inches. On August 26 

 I saw a young one just able to fly. 



Three species of snipe are found in south Africa : one 

 purely South African, one a European migrant, while 

 the third (the Painted Snipe) resembles, in habits and 

 appearance, a rail rather than a snipe. 



WATER-FOWL 



Many parts of Africa are extraordinarily rich in water- 

 loving birds, and I shall never forget my first glimpse 

 of the Zambezi near Lealui, where the enormous swamps 

 collect millions of wild-fowl of all families and species; 

 and form a real paradise for the sportsman. Geese, 

 ducks, teal and widgeon, pochards and shovellers, ibises, 

 herons, flamingos, and all the host of lesser water- 

 fowl, here find a home. The ear is filled and confused 

 by their varied cries, and of an evening and morning their 

 long " flights " may be seen streaming in every direction 

 from and to their various feeding-grounds. Great is 

 the contrast to this scene of life and activity which meets 

 the eye of the traveller amid the dismal sudd swamps of 

 the upper Nile. Here, on every side stretches a scene 

 of weary solitude a wilderness of reeds and feathery 

 papyrus, unvaried by a sign of visible life, excepting an 

 occasional solitary and meditative shovel-bill, which, 

 hermit-like, finds content in the lonely uniformity of 

 his surroundings. 



The largest and one of the best known of African 

 geese is the Spur- Wing, which extends right through 

 the Ethiopian region, from the White Nile southwards. 

 It has a sharp spur springing from the bone of the wing, 

 and is often met with in considerable flocks. It is very 



