58 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
taped rather over 14 feet; but further south I saw 
monsters that must have approached 20 feet in length 
with the girth of a porpoise. 
Naturally the altered surroundings introduced entirely 
new forms in bird-life. The dense swamp-jungles along¬ 
side of which we cruised swarmed with coucals, or 
bush-cuckoo (Centropus monachus\ with purple and black¬ 
headed herons, with reclusive rails and chestnut jacanas, 
unknown warblers and 
weaver - finches in a 
variety that defied any 
hasty analysis. Wher¬ 
ever firmer ground 
afforded root-hold for 
riverside trees, these 
were crowded with 
herons of varied species, 
as well as with sacred, 
glossy, and hagedash 
ibis, white egrets in 
three sizes, buff-backed 
and squacco herons, 
openbill storks, darters, 
and cormorants—liter¬ 
ally in thousands. Each 
big tamarind-tree was often not only covered externally but 
filled inside with birds ; for closer examination revealed 
scores of reclusive night-herons and little bitterns 
hidden in its inmost depths of foliage. It was odd to 
watch long-legged herons and egrets perching like 
steeple-jacks on the very topmost and thinnest sprays 
—so thin as to sway for yards beneath the burden, 
necessitating much careful balancing. The low-growing 
ambatch-trees by the water’s edge formed favourite 
perches for cormorants (the small white-breasted African 
species) and for snake-like darters ( Plotus ), many of 
which sat “spread-eagled,” drying their wings in the 
In the Riverside Trees— Egrets and Darters. 
