140 
Stray Leaves from a Note Book, 
to the carcase. When we had left it, there was not a single 
vulture in sight; when we returned, after less than half an hour's 
absence, we found about 300 of these birds of prey round the 
carcase. To our amazement the wildebeeste, an animal as large 
as an ox, had been entirely consumed by the voracious birds! 
All that was left for us was the hide and the bones picked clean. 
And the vicinity was strewn with feathers where the vultures 
had been fighting. Some of them were so gorged that they 
were scarcely able to fly ! Doesn't it sound beastly ? 
The tropical birds, with their briUiant colouring, are 
wonderfully beautiful. I wish I could show you the tiny sun- 
birds flying in the sunlight. They ai-e the African humming 
birds, and it is simply glorious to watch them, as I do, in their 
natural state. 
I have the skins of some fine large birds — tawny eagle, 
giant heron, marabout, etc., and I have a huge quantity of 
beautiful ostrich feathers. I shall be sending home various 
trophies of my safaris, as opportunities offer. I believe I have 
one of the finest collections of " Heads " in the whole Battalion ! 
I am busy in odd intervals — few and far between — in 
writing an article for Bird Notes, and hope to send it shortly. 
The difificulties of transit are great. My letters have to go by 
" runner," who carries them in a cleft stick, through wild, 
savage country inhabited by hostile tribes and wild beasts. If 
all goes well, and nothing happens to the carrier, my letter will 
reach you in about four months after I have despatched it, so 
you see there is no guarantee that my article will reach Bird 
N0TE.S at any time. I shall do my best and just trust to luck! 
That is pretty much what one has to do out here on the Abys- 
sinian Frontier, where it is a far cry to a white man, and civil- 
ization is unknown. And that's that\ 
So give my best regards to our most esteemed Editor and 
fellow members of the F.B.C., and just let them know that some 
sort of article will, I hope, find its way " some day, somehow " 
to dear old Bird Notes, even if it is in tatters and practically 
undecipherable when it finally reaches England ! I think the 
photos of birds and nests will be interesting, and there are the 
films to print from if required, and, anyway, it will show I have 
