962 CAPT. STANLEY S. EXOWEB ON THE [Dec. 18, 



Family Plataleidje. 

 Platalea sp. inc. 



Spoonbills were noted only on 10 days out of the 47 : on the 

 White Nile at intervals from near Omdurman to Lake No, and on 

 the Bahr-el-Jebel south of Heliat Nuer. 



Family CtcoNim^:. 



Dissuea episcopus (Bodd.). 



This Stork was seen only on the 23rd of March between the 

 Sobat and Zeraf. 



Ciconia ciconia(L.). 



On the 11th of March some flocks of about twenty White Storks 

 were seen near Omdurman ; the species was again noted on the 

 13th, and on the 20th, some miles south of Jebel Ahmed .Agar, 

 about 5 p.m. we saw a wonderful gathering on a sandbank, there 

 must have been more than a thousand of them. Again on the 19th 

 of April we saw a few of this species near Jebel Ahmed Agar. 



Ephippioehynchtis senegalensis (Shaw). 



The Great Saddle-billed Stork was noted on 18 days out of the 

 47, either solitary or in pairs ; it is not so familiar as the Maribou 

 or Tantalus, but is not shy and wild like the Shoebill. This species 

 we saw on the White Nile south of Renk, on the Zeraf, Jebel, 

 G-hazal, and Arab rivers, and on Lakes No and Ambadi. 



Leptoptilus cbt/menifebus (Less.). 



The Maribou, or " Adjutant Bird," is about the most noticeable 

 bird of this region ; it was observed on 33 days out of the 47 : on 

 the White Nile from within a day's journey of Omdurman to Lake 

 No, on the Bahr-el-Zeraf, on the Bahr-el-Jebel from its mouth to 

 as far south as we went (about 7° 20' N. lat.), on the Ghazal and 

 Arab, and on Lake Ambadi. It usually congregates in large parties 

 in the neighbourhood of native camps, or where an animal has been 

 killed. I once counted sixty-nine of these great Storks seated round 

 the carcase of an elephant. In places where there are trees, these 

 birds can be seen perched in their tops. 



Anastomus lamelligebus Temm. 



The Gape-billed Stork was noted on 30 days out of the 47 ; it 

 was usually seen in large numbers busily searching for food in the 

 mud and shallow water, or on the beds of the so-called " oyster " 

 (jElheria), left exposed by the low Nile : it is a gloomy funereal- 

 looking bird. We observed it all down the White Nile from 

 Omdurman to Lake No, and on the Zeraf, Jebel (as far south as 

 we went), Ghazal, and Arab rivers, and on Lake Ambadi. Some 

 of the flocks number many hundreds of individuals. Like the 

 Ibises, this bird perches on trees where there are any. 



