114 
SAVAGE SUDAN 
[There are found on Nile two distinct species of pelicans— 
the huge pink Pelecanus onocratulus and the smaller, silver-grey 
kind, P. rufescens , half his size and much less numerous. The 
latter are usually seen in little groups of a dozen or less, and 
never assemble in the big mobs that their larger cousins affect. 
The following table gives the measurements of five of the latter 
shot at Fashoda, 6th March 1914 •— 
Length. 
Expanse. 
Weight. 
No. r. 
Immature . 
• 61J inches. 
89 inches. 
14 lb. 
No. 2. 
Do. 
■ * 58f „ 
92 » 
15 „ 
No. 3 
Adult 
. 60 „ 
96 „ 
16 „ 
No. 4. 
Do., pink. 
. 58J „ 
92 „ 
15 „ 
No. 5. 
Do., do. . 
. 61 
90 „ 
20 „] 
At the point of the crocodile - lined sandspit sat a 
compact bunch of comb-geese, all sound asleep, not a 
head in sight. A grass-clad ridge facilitated close 
approach. There were five geese. I thought to “whistle 
them up,” but it was not till the third challenge that the 
quintette of necks rose erect. Then a charge of No. 1 
laid out three; the two survivors, rising “ wing-to-wing,” 
were both cut down by the second barrel, and the whole five 
secured. Exploits such as this—or, similarly, enfilading 
a column of guinea-fowl—brought a gleam of satisfaction 
to the eyes of my hungry crew such as no mere ornitho¬ 
logical successes could ever elicit. 
A word as to the stone-curlews of the riverside: these 
belonged to the smaller species {CEdicnemus senegalensis), 
and the contrast in character between these feebler folk 
and their strenuous European prototype was marked. 
Never would Spanish “ Alcaravan ” submit to systematic 
bullying by spurwing plover which its degenerate African 
cousin meekly accepts as a predestined portion in life. 
The note of the two species is similar, but here, on Nile, 
it lacks the ringing stridence so well remembered in Spain, 
and the flight of the African also is flickering and feebler. 
A mixed bag that evening counted io| brace. Besides 
the eagles and geese, it included goshawk {Metierax 
fiolyzonus), red-naped merlin, Goliath, squacco, and black- 
