300 SAVAGE SUDAN 



will necessarily have some days to spend in its capital 

 Khartoum ; and these days (should he have any apprecia- 

 tion of wild Nature) need never be wasted. Khartoum, 

 it should be borne in mind, is desert-beset ; hence its palm- 

 shaded groves and its verdant gardens, all stimulated 

 by irrigation, constitute the City a veritable oasis in the 

 desert. So, at least, it is regarded by many (not all) 

 of the feathered tribes, which here revel in unwonted 

 wealth of shade and the luxury of watered lawns. Thus, 



SlLVERBlLLS SUNNING. Khartoum, January I7th, 1913. 



for example, one particular tree grew in our garden. It 

 was of the deciduous order, naked, and of many boles 

 rowan-like in that respect. In science the name of this 

 tree is Erythrina brucii, and it perfects its blossoming 

 ere yet a single leaf has unfolded. Thus, in January, it 

 displays masses of deep-crimson flowers growing on boughs 

 bare of all else, save thorns. This one tree afforded studies 

 of hour-long interest. Around those gorgeous blossoms 

 as well as on the golden sunflowers hard by hovered 

 brilliant green sunbirds (Nectarinia pulchelld], hardly 

 bigger than butterflies, poising in mid-air, while their 

 curved beaks probed each calyx for some tiny insect-prey. 

 Above, on its topmost boughs, perched other three kinds 



