350 



EASTERN ETHIOPIA 



xxvrii 



opposite direction to that of the spoonbill : it is thin 

 and elastic like a paper-knife, and the two halves come 

 together b}^ their thin edges, but the lower half of the 

 bill projects beyond the upper at least one-third of its 

 length. During life the bill, except the terminal third 

 of the lower half, is like the colour of a ripe orange, but 

 it quickly fades after death to a dull yellow. 



The Skimmer is like a large tern (sea-swallow) : by 

 means of powerful wings it skims the surface of the 

 water usually as daylight fades, with its mouth wide 



The head of the Skimmer or iScissor-bill. It is a tax on credulity 

 to believe that this bill was designed for securing fish. 



open, but in such a way that the lower half ploughs the 



water, and as shoals of small fish rise in the evenmg 



Darwin gives an 



hour the Ijird secures a meal. 



admirable description of the methods of this bird as he 



observed it on the Eio Parana and at Monte Video in 



1833 : " The water was quite smooth, and it formed a 



curious spectacle to behold a flock (of scissor-beaks) 



each 



surface." 



The Scissor-bills are found in South and Central 

 America and Asia as well as in the Ethiopian Region. 

 Livingstone's attention was attracted to them on the 



ju'd leaving its narrow wake on the mirror-like 



