50 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



THE CROWNED CRANE is always a striking-looking 

 bird, with its slaty plumage, and its curious patch of 

 straw-coloured bristles on the head. The wattles on 

 the face seem to vary in colour in the different local 

 races in Africa ; those of the southern species are white, 

 bounded with bright red above. 



THE GREEN IBIS. Popularly known as the " hadada," 

 this bird is found throughout the greater part of the 

 Ethiopian region. It frequents the vicinity of rivers, 

 and in the early morning and late afternoon its loud 

 and harsh cry, which its name not inaptly describes, is 

 a familiar sound, as in pairs or small flocks up to a dozen 

 or twenty in number the birds wing their way to and 

 from their feeding-grounds. They fly pretty high, rather 

 heavily, but at a pace which is deceptive. I have always 

 found them -extremely wary birds, which, when resting 

 in trees, seldom permit near approach, and usually alter 

 the course of their flight the instant they catch sight of 

 anything suspicious. Moreover, their course is usually 

 directed straight up or down the middle of the stream, 

 and they appear to leave it only at the point nearest 

 to their favourite feeding-ground. Their food consists 

 almost exclusively of insects, which they seek in every 

 kind of country, but in swampy land for choice. The 

 flesh is of dark colour and excellent eating. 



CHAPTER VIII 



MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS II 



THE MARABOU STORK. This large and rather re- 

 pulsive-looking bird, with its almost naked pink head 

 and neck, huge and powerful beak, and scavenging habits, 

 is nevertheless possessed of the most beautifully soft, 



