VOYAGE ON WHITE NILE 
145 
one small tree and, after the shots, they soared, wheeled, 
and played in the air overhead with exquisite grace and 
speed, ere resuming* their 
interrupted course to the 
north-east. 
A striking feature in 
their pure white figures 
was one dark patch 
beneath the point of the 
wing as they soared 
above us. This, as our 
six specimens seemed to 
show, is a sexual distinc¬ 
tion, denoting the 
female. 
More chastely - col¬ 
oured creatures than 
these do not exist. Save a black eye-patch, crimson 
irides, and yellow’ talons, their whole colour-scheme was 
delicate French-grey above, 
white below, and they had 
long forked tails. No 
wonder that, at a distance, 
we had mistaken them for 
terns! Terns certainly they 
resemble far more than birds 
of prey. 
Our six specimens (2 
males, 4 females) were all thin 
and in poor condition. Their 
crops were empty, save that 
one contained a few grass¬ 
hoppers. 
Although the date (Jan¬ 
uary 28th) represents the Nadir of migration times, 
yet this band was clearly travelling north - east 
when they alighted, tired and hungry, on the first 
K 
Swallow-tailed Kite. 
