32 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



chatter as they court their mates at the entrance of the 

 nests, from which they hang fanning their wings the whole 

 time to and fro as if their feet had caught in the meshwork. 

 The female of this group of weavers is dull-coloured and 

 somewhat resembles a sparrow, and so do the young males 

 for their first year, after which they assume the bright 

 plumage of the adult, which according to my observations 

 is not changed again for the dull plumage in winter. 



Before the nesting-season comes round again, it is an odd 

 sight to see a flock of old and young birds together, the old 

 males in the gorgeous yellow and black of their perfection, 

 while the others wear the motley of every transitional stage. 

 Other very familiar birds, seldom away from the precincts 

 of a native village, and sharing with the vultures in the work 

 of scavenging, are the kites {Milvus CBgyptius). They are 

 bold, rapacious birds and mix themselves up very much 

 with the daily life of a native community. Nothing comes 

 amiss to them. When camping in the bush I have seen them 

 swoop down before the very eyes of my cook and carry off 

 between their talons perhaps a dainty fowl cutlet that was 

 being prepared for my dinner. Scarcely a day passed without 

 a visit from one or more of these robbers, which at times 

 waxed so bold as to swoop down in front of my skinning 

 table and carry off the birds I happened to let drop, and 

 on more than one occasion the bodies were those of their own 

 fraternity. 



Outside a village, numbers of birds are to be seen ; always 

 more noticeable when the harvest has been gathered. When 

 the village is literally smothered in high-standing crops, 

 the birds are more concealed, except the ubiquitous weavers 



