82 [page number]

[25.1.48]
surface and round its shores. The first and
most outstanding bird was a solitary YELLOW-
BILLED SPOONBILL, very wary, flying long
before I got near it and when a mob
of sheep came dundling down to the water.
It flew with lazy beats around the swamp
before gliding down to a new position. Very
large flocks of SPUR-WINGED PLOVER stood on the
high banks while MAGPIE-LARKS fed singly by
the waters-edge. On the water were many
HOARY-HEADED GREBES, MOUNTAINDUCK, BLACK-DUCK
a few PINK-EARED DUCK &[and] HARDHEAD. Every so
often the duck would rise, circling in large
flocks over-head, the faint hurrying rustle of
their wings and soft whistling betokening their
excitement. Many WHISKERED TERNS fed, diving
over the water, the solitary HERON arose
suddenly from [crossed out]INVISIBILITY[/crossed out] invisibility and as
I walked round two SNIPES rose from close
to my feet.
  It was a perfect day for swamp
birds particularly as the heat had
concentrated them near the water. But it 
was not perfect for the watcher who returned
full of heat, grass-seeds and thirst.