78 THE CENTRAL AFRICAN STONE-CURLEW 
THE CENTRAL AFRICAN STONE-CURLEW 
(< (Edicnemus vermiculatus) 
By R. van Someren. 
Sunday again in the Gwamba whose solitudes are indeed 
far removed from the sound of church bells ; but a brilliant 
morning tempts one out in a canoe on to the placid lake to try 
to probe further into Nature’s mysteries, which lead one to 
Nature’s God. 
Slowly the canoe glides through the water, the beauty of the 
morning filling one with a deep sense of enjoyment of the mere 
fact of living and being able to appreciate the peaceful beauties 
of the scene. 
The whole shore seems alive with birds ; nimble sandpipers 
continuously bobbing their heads ; flocks of dainty ringplovers 
chasing each other across the sands, now picking up a tasty 
morsel, now dodging the wavelets which roll murmuringly 
up the beach ; while the weaver birds as usual seem to be the 
embodiment of restless energy, as they fly back and forwards 
at their work of nest building — almost an unending task, as at 
times they appear most fastidious as to the form of their nests 
and continually keep adding or altering, the while some more 
mischievous or lazier bird slyly pulls pieces from his neighbour’s 
structure amid loud protests, and a ceaseless merry chatter is 
kept up, all absorbed in their various tasks of hanging the dainty 
nests to the slender twigs of the ambatch overhanging the water 
often merely a few inches above the surface. 
Suddenly by a small stream the stealthy movements of a pair 
of stone-curlews arrest one’s attention, so one steps ashore 
and casts around for the nest, the while the birds move uneasily 
up and down the opposite bank of the stream. A low call from 
a native announces a find, and one is delighted to see the nest, 
a mere depression in the sand and lined with driftwood and 
containing two handsomely marked stone-coloured eggs splashed 
with rich brown, the nest being constructed by some reeds close 
to the stream and quite inconspicuous, so closely does it match 
the surroundings in colour. 
