144 LIFE WITH THE HAMRAN ARABS. 



give us the benefit of a little screeching ; but above, or 

 rather distinct from them all, is the single deep and 

 plaintive note of a bird that sounds as if this songster 

 had all the cares of the others thrown upon its shoulders. 

 What kind of bird this is we have not yet discovered, 

 and, excepting for food, the feathered tribe are left un- 

 disturbed. I regret not having shot at four very fine 

 birds I saw a few days ago in pairs on some high rocky 

 ground, for I now find it was a rare species named the 

 Aboo Goumba. This bird is fully described in Mans- 

 field Parkyns's most interesting account of ' Life in 

 Abyssinia,' and he gives an illustration of the male and 

 the female. It is about the size of a very small turkey, 

 and on the ground looks quite black, excepting a white 

 spot on the margin of the wing, but when it flies it shows 

 a very large amount of white in the wing. The beak is 

 thick and long, and has a horny lump on top of it, and 

 the male has in addition red-and-blue wattles. Tempting 

 shots as they were to me, I would not change my car- 

 tridges, as I was at the time tracking a rhinoceros. The 

 little birds that passed us the other day in such marvel- 

 lous numbers remain in the neighbourhood, and with 

 one shot this evening I killed thirty-five, and was 

 almost surprised that more did not fall. This bird 

 is much smaller than a sparrow, has a red beak, and 

 feathers on the back like a lark, and is called by our 

 Arabs ' Hadderdub.' Essafi says that they arrive here 



