Diary oj Birds see?i on the White Nile.



221



and doves. Among the latter I saw Sharpe’s Turtle Dove ( Turtur

communis isabellinus), the Dongola Dove ( Turtur decipiens ) and

the Palm Dove ( lurtur senegalensis). Now and then I saw Pied

Crows ( Corvus scapulatus), and I caught sight of a Brown-necked

Raven ( Corvus coi'ax umbrimis). I spent some time watching

some Rollers ( Coracias gam-ulus'), and I also saw several specimens

of the Red-billed Hornbill ( Lophoceros erythrorhynchus), but these

were rather difficult to approach. During my walk I came across

the track of what was apparently a Leopard, but I did not catch

sight of any big game. Grivet Monkeys ( Cercopithecus ae/hiops)

were common, and kept up an incessant chattering in the trees.

There were some extremely large swarms of locusts here. Shortly

after sunset I returned to the boat, after one of the pleasantest

and most productive rambles I had had on this expedition. We

were unable to resume our journey this evening at the time

arranged, as some of our party, who had gone shooting, failed to

return ; we were somewhat anxious about them after dark, and

turned on every electric light on board and kept the whistle going

constantly. We were organising a search party when they turned

up ; they had lost their way at sunset—the sun going down very

quickly here—and had wandered about for some hours. They

were exceedingly glad to be back again on board and we started

immediately.


Feb. 21st. We are now back in the country of the Baggara

Arabs. We passed thejebelein hills and Abu Island, the scene

of the Mahdi’s retirement for solitary meditation, this morning.

We went through the White Nile Bridge at five in the afternoon,

and later, stopped at Kosti, where we caught a large catfish,

weighing over twenty pounds ; its flesh was not very palatable.


Feb. 22nd. We passed El Dueim at four a.m. this morning,

and are now amongst desert scenery once again. The sand

comes down to the water’s edge with Cacti and other desert

plants at intervals. There are a few trees at some distance from

the river ; I saw several fine mirages during the morning. Wild

fowl were very plentiful, and I noticed some Ruddy Shelduck

(Tadorna casarca), Pintails ( Anas acuta), Garganev ( Querquedula

circia) and Shovellers ( Spatula clypeata). Egyptian Vultures

■were common, and I also saw a few Griffon Vultures ( Gyps



