162 
ThE CRESTED CRANE , ETC. 
[chap. V. 
it was only necessary to wait under a tree, on tlie 
river’s bank, to obtain thirty or forty shots in one 
morning as the ducks flew down the coarse of the 
stream. I found two varieties : the small brown duck 
with a grey head; and a magnificent variety, as large 
as the Muscovy, having a copper-and-blue coloured 
tinselled back and wings, with a white but speckled 
head and neck. This duck had a curious peculiarity 
in a fleshy protuberance on the beak about as large as 
a half-crown. This stands erect, like a cock’s comb. 
Both this, and the smaller variety, were delicious eat¬ 
ing. There were two varieties of geese—the only two 
that I have ever seen on the White Nile—the common 
Egyptian grey goose, and a large black and white bird 
with a crimson head and neck, and a red and yellow 
horny protuberance on the top of the head. This 
variety has a sharp spur upon the wing an inch long, 
and exceedingly powerful; it is used as a weapon of 
defence for striking, like the spurred wing of the 
plover. 
I frequently shot ten or twelve ducks, and as many 
cranes, before breakfast; among others the beautiful- 
crested crane, called by the Arabs “ garranook.” The 
black velvet head of this crane, surrounded by a golden 
crest, was a favourite ornament of the Latookas, and 
they were immediately arranged as crests for their 
helmets. The neighbourhood of my camp would have 
made a fortune for a feather-dealer ; it was literally 
strewn with down and plumes. I was always attended 
every morning by a number of Latooka boys, who were 
eager sportsmen, and returned to camp daily laden 
with ducks and geese. No sooner did we arrive in 
camp that a number of boys volunteered to pluck the 
birds, which they did for the sake of the longest 
feathers, with which they immediately decked their 
woolly heads. Crowds of boys were to be seen with 
heads like cauliflowers, all dressed, with the feathers 
of cranes and wild ducks. It appears to be accepted, 
both by the savage and civilized, that birds’ feathers 
