160 THE BIRDS OF ETHIOPIAN AFRICA 



reddish brown on the neck and a white stripe on the long blue-edged black hackles, 

 the rest of the body being black with white wavy lines and small, round, white 

 spots. The rare black guinea-fowl (Phasidus niger). of the west coast from Cape 

 Lopez to Loango, the only species of its genus, is blackish brown mottled with dark 

 brown, the bare head and neck being yellow. The turkey-like guinea-fowl 

 (Agelastes meleagroides), also the sole representative of its genus, is a western 

 species, ranging from Liberia to the Gabun. With a white chest and upper-parts, 

 it has the naked areas bright red. 



In the plover tribe (Gharadriidce) it must suffice to refer to that handsome 

 bird, the painted snipe (Rostratula, or Rhynchcea, capensis), which is markedly 

 distinct from the true snipe, and is common to Africa and India. The large buff 

 spots on the tail-feathers afford unmistakable means of recognising these birds. 



A similar brief notice must suffice in the case of the rails {Rallidce), of 

 which perhaps the most notable Ethiopian representative is the West African 

 bush-rail (Himantornis liazmatopus), a bird with a rather short body, a black 

 and green curved beak, and comparatively long legs. It is the only repre- 

 sentative of its genus. 



Neither can much space be accorded to the pigeon group 

 (Columbidce), although reference must be made to three exclusively 

 Ethiopian genera. Of these, Vinago, with some half-dozen species, ranges from 

 Abyssinia to Cape Colony ; Turturcena includes species in which the plumage of 

 the two sexes is unlike in colour ; and Haplopelia is represented by the so-called 

 cinnamon-doves, which subsist chiefly on berries picked up from the ground, 

 whereas the species of Turturcena are stated to feed principally on the larvae of 

 cicadas. 



In addition to the above, mention may be made of the African ground-dove 

 (Ghalcopelia afro) and the Senegal turtle-dove {Turtur senegalensis), both of which 

 range all over the continent, and the latter also reaching the Canaries. 



Herons and The most striking Ethiopian member of the family Ardeidce is 



storks. the gi an t heron (Ardea goliath), a bird half as large again as the 

 tj'pical species, and remarkable when in the nuptial plumage for the beauty of its 

 feathers and the presence of two apron-like fringes hanging down the front of 

 the body. Of European species, the purple heron, the squacco heron, the night- 

 heron, and the bittern range all over Africa. Allied to the storks is the gigantic 

 shoe-bill (Balceniceps rex), conspicuous on account of its massive, broad, depressed 

 beak, with a sharp hook at the tip of its upper half, and the lower half rounded. 

 This stoutly built bird is about the size of a marabou stork, and of a brownish grey 

 colour, with the wings and tail dark slaty grey, the beak cloudy yellow, and the 

 feet black. Confined to the basin of the White Nile, it is least uncommon in 

 northern Equatoria. These birds feed chiefly on fishes, to capture which they 

 will stand for hours in the water with their great beaks held close to the surface. 

 Among other peculiarities, they are characterised by the presence of a large pair 

 of powder-down patches on the lower part of the back, and the absence of such 

 patches on the breast. At the pairing-season, which takes place during the rains, 

 the nest is built by the side of the water, at a slight elevation above the reeds, 

 and formed of a quantity of twigs and stems of water-plants mixed with mud,, the 



