THIRSTY BIRDS 99 



charming description of the coming of the flocks of 

 these swift and swallow-like birds to the " pans " in 

 the dried-up veldt of South Africa, whither they fly 

 in thousands to drink. 



Water-birds drink quite as eagerly as others. When 

 an eminent Yorkshire politician and Temperance leader 

 was delivering a more than usually eloquent speech, 

 one of the audience remarked admiringly: " Eh ! he's 

 'ad a sup o' warter to-day, has Ed'ard ! " Whatever 

 its stimulating effects in this instance, there seems no 

 doubt that ducks of all kinds regard a " sup o' warter " 

 as an indispensable preliminary to any enterprise what- 

 ever. They drink and turn up their eyes in ecstasy 

 when they enter the water, and again before leaving it ; 

 before eating, and after eating; before beginning a 

 water tournament, and after it. Medical men say that 

 sipping water gently stimulates the brain. Apparently 

 the ducks think so too. 



