VOYAGE ON WHITE NILE 
139 
varied waders—lay six, eight, or a dozen basking crocodiles, 
some with murderous jaws wide agape, lying close along¬ 
side the unsuspicious birds. Clearly the latter entertain 
no fear of their grim neighbours, for we often saw packs 
of geese, afloat, totally unconcerned by the sudden appear¬ 
ance of a crocodile almost in their midst. But, though I 
watched the smaller waders, such as spur-winged plovers 
Grey Heron. Goliath Heron. 
and pluvians, poking about the ooze close alongside a 
sleeping crocodile, yet never did one perch on his back or 
attempt to “pick his teeth/’ as was averred by Herodotus 
to be their habit. 
The avifauna of the Sudan includes some of the biggest 
flying creatures on earth, such as the marabou, whose 
wing-expanse exceeds 100 inches, the saddle-billed jabiru 
and Goliath herons, whose stately figures ornament 
each morass and lagoon. One evening my ornithological 
bag included two Goliath herons, weighing X2§ lb. apiece, 
