3 00 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
a scorching day. After about half an hour, which 
seemed to fly, so much of bird and animal life was 
there around to rivet the attention, the first musical 
cry of the flighting grouse was heard and a couple of 
birds circled once and then shot like plummets towards 
the water. As they reached the top of the belt they 
saw us and swerved, but too late, and three little 
corpses fell on to the smooth sand. Five minutes 
later came the first flock, some fifty strong, flying 
perhaps forty yards up and shooting straight at the 
high tree tops. As they topped these they broke in 
every direction like a covey of partridges in November 
and for my gun, at all events, proved altogether too 
difficult. In another quarter of an hour there was one 
continual stream whirling over the trees and circling 
and calling all round. I feel quite convinced that had 
we been so desirous we could have killed 500 brace of 
as difficult and sporting birds as anyone could possibly 
desire. We soon had all that we wanted for ourselves 
and porters, but could not refrain from staying and 
watching the wonderful sight presented. After a time, 
if we kept quite still, the birds would cease to mind 
our presence and would settle down in hundreds at the 
water’s edge, where they seemed to take two sips and 
then make off. I do not think that the time occupied 
by each flock was more than half a minute. It seemed 
a poor repast to come, say, twenty miles for! 
After watching for a couple of hours we went 
through the belt of trees to cross to our camp, and as 
we emerged a strange sight greeted us. We thought 
that the bulk of the birds had finished drinking, but 
it appeared that it was only the bolder spirits which 
had not resented our presence. For some hundreds 
of yards the sandy ground outside the trees was brown 
