30 Bird Hunting on the White Nile. 



is little else but carrion on which a bird could feed. 

 Kites and Egyptian vultures,|| both excellent scavengers, 

 are the most conspicuous birds. And all over the town 

 are homely house sparrows,H a little smaller and more 

 brightly coloured than our familiar birds, but every whit 

 as cheeky and pushful. Down by the river one may 

 often see a striking black and white kingfisher,** hover- 

 ing over the shallow water, and every now and again drop- 

 ping down to the surface like a stone. If you watch 

 carefully you will notice that this graceful action is 

 repeated many times before the bird makes a successful 

 plunge and rises with a fish. 



Across the river, on a sandbank, a few pelicans, ff some 

 graceful egrets and herons,! t and other wading birds 

 may be distinguished. 



When once we got into the swing of things and began 

 to learn our way through some of the mazes of the town, 

 preparations for our journey up the White Nile did not 

 take long. Time being precious I determined to spend 

 as little as possible in travelling, but to work 

 thoroughly a small tract of country from Omdurman 



|| Neophron percnopterus, Linn. 

 ^T Passer rufidorsalis, Brehm. 

 ** Ceryle rudis, Linn, 

 ft Pelicanus onocrotalus, Linn. 



1% Herodias ralloides, Scop ; Herodias garzetta, Linn. ; Ardea 

 purpurea, Linn. 



