CHAPTER XIV 



BIRDS AND BIBD SHOOTING 



In that portion of the preceding chapter dealing 

 with the question of arms and ammunition, I 

 recommended the provision of a fair supply of 

 shot-gun cartridges. For these, in many parts of 

 Zambezia, much use can be found, not only to 

 provide desirable variety in the daily diet of the 

 party, but some variation in the character of the 

 sport itself. 



Scattered over the face of the country there 

 are large lagoons, swamps, and marshes populous 

 with wild-fowl of every description, from the 

 immense unwieldy pelican to the delicate painted 

 snipe. In the neighbourhood of the larger villages 

 two or three different kinds of guinea-fowl are 

 plentiful, as are the pretty familiar turtle-doves, 

 fruit- eating pigeons, and other birds ; whilst 

 the forest, especially where it breaks up into 

 grassy glades, is the home of the francolin and 

 the bustard. 



On the Zambezi itself, and throughout the 

 various mouths of its delta, wild ducks are found 

 in such astonishing numbers that in one morning's 

 or evening's shoot a fairly large canoe could 

 easily be filled with these sporting and savoury 

 birds. About the flighting time, that is to say. 



