2 Hon. N. C. Rothschild and Mr. A. F. R. AVollaston 
existence there of a strip of grass, from which a poor forage 
is obtained. This strip of grass, about half a mile wide, 
runs along the east bank of the river for two or three miles 
southwards from Shendi ; on the river side it is fringed by a 
few palm-trees, a few strips of cultivated land, and patches 
of thick tangles of acacia, broom, tamarisk, and Sodom-apple 
[Calotropis procera) ; while on the landward side it is bounded 
by a very dense scrub of acacia and mimosa, which becomes 
gradually thinner towards the desert. 
As is well known, the desert of this region is not like that 
of Egypt or Nubia, a desolate waste of fine sand with not 
even a tree or a blade of grass for hundreds of miles, but 
it is fairly uniformly covered with scattered acacia- trees 
varying in height from ten to twenty feet, and here and 
there with small patches of a fine hair-like, almost white, 
grass. Occasionally one comes across a '^ khor," or wide, 
shallow, dried-up watercourse, wliich becomes an arm of 
the Nile during the rainy season; and at a distance of 
about eight to ten miles from the river is a range of low 
rocky hills, the highest rising perhaps four hundred feet 
above its level. 
It will thus be seen that the country can be roughly 
divided up into four separate regions, each characterized 
bv its own distinct fauna : — first, the river and its mud 
banks (with Terns, Pelicans, Geese, and Waders) ; second, 
the grass and scrub fringing the river (with Pigeons, Larks, 
Cisticolce, Weavers, and Horn bills) ; third, the desert (with 
Wheatears, Shrikes, Crows, and Sand-Grouse) ; and fourth, 
the hills (with Rock -Thrushes, Eagle-Owls, and Vultures). 
Our camp was pitched on the river-bank, and it was in 
the second region, that of the grass and scrub, that the 
majority of our birds were obtained. 
In selecting a time of year suitable for a visit to the 
Sudan, one should endeavour to arrive there in November 
or December, when the weather is comparatively cool ; but 
though it became exceedingly hot (110°-120° F. in the 
shade) towards the end of March, this drawback was more 
than counterbalanced by our good fortune in finding a 
