114 SAVAGE SUDAN 



[There are found on Nile two distinct species of pelicans 

 the huge pink Pelecanus onocratulus and the smaller, silver-grey 

 kind, P. rufescens, half his size and much less numerous. The 

 latter are usually seen in little groups of a dozen or less, and 

 never assemble in the big mobs that their larger cousins affect. 

 The following table gives the measurements of five of the latter 

 shot at Fashoda, 6th March 1914: 



Length. Expanse. Weight. 



No. I. Immature . . 6ij inches. 89 inches. 14 Ib. 



No. 2. Do. 58! 92 15 



No. 3 Adult . 60 96 1 6 



No. 4. Do., pink. ..58!,, 92 15 



No. 5. Do., do. . 61 90 20 ] 



At the point of the crocodile -lined sandspit sat a 

 compact bunch of comb-geese, all sound asleep, not a 

 head in sight. A grass -clad ridge facilitated close 

 approach. There were five geese. I thought to "whistle 

 them up," but it was not till the third challenge that the 

 quintette of necks rose erect. Then a charge of No. i 

 laid out three; the two survivors, rising "wing-to-wing," 

 were both cut down by the second barrel, and the whole five 

 secured. Exploits such as this -or, similarly, enfilading 

 a column of guinea-fowl brought a gleam of satisfaction 

 to the eyes of my hungry crew such as no mere ornitho- 

 logical successes could ever elicit. 



A word as to the stone-curlews of the riverside : these 

 belonged to the smaller species (CSdicnemus senegalensis], 

 and the contrast in character between these feebler folk 

 and their strenuous European prototype was marked. 

 Never would Spanish "Alcaravan" submit to systematic 

 bullying by spurwing plover which its degenerate African 

 cousin meekly accepts as a predestined portion in life. 

 ,The note of the two species is similar, but here, on Nile, 

 it lacks the ringing stridence so well remembered in Spain, 

 and the flight of the African also is flickering and feebler. 



A mixed bag that evening counted loj brace. Besides 

 the eagles and geese, it included goshawk {Melierax 

 polyzonus], red-naped merlin, Goliath, squacco, and black- 



