BLUE NILE AND DINDER RIVER 
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shooting ” ; yet it demands accurate knowledge, judgment, 
and quick decision always to select the desideratum—that 
is, the specimen which counts. 
For the National Collection at South Kensington we 
brought home from the Blue Nile and Dinder rivers 
upwards of 500 specimens of bird and beast. I will here 
confine my remarks to half-a-dozen of my favourite 
Raptores. 
Rueppell’s Vulture—O ne of these extremely handsome 
vultures perched on a tree 100 yards from our camp and 
I got him with rifle. This species is one of the rarest of 
vultures in the Sudan; we only shot one other—in Kordofan. 
Dimensions:— 
Weight. Length. Expanse. 
Male (adult) . . .141b. 41 ins. 100 ins. 
Female „ . . 16 „ 42 „ 102 ins. 
White-headed Vulture (Gyps occipitalis ).—These also 
belong to the aristocracy of their caste. We shot them both 
on Dinder, Blue, and White Niles—common everywhere—and 
found four nests of this species, all in trees, as under :— 
1913. February—Two nests, each with half-grown “squab.” 
1914. „ 28—Nest with half-feathered young. 
1914. „ 14—Full-feathered nestling, weight 6J lb., expanse 46I ins. 
Weight. Length. Expanse. 
Male (adult) . . 8 lb. 32 ins. 84 ins. 
Female „ . . . 9 » 34 „ 88 „ 
White-backed Griffon (Gyps africanus)—A pair were 
shot on Dinder, but seen nowhere else in the Sudan. 
Recognisable by the white “ mirror” between the wings, similar 
to that in Bonelli’s eagle. Dimensions:— 
Weight. Length. Expanse. 
Male (adult) . . • 7 i lb. 35 ins. 85 ins. 
Female „ . . . 8 „ 38 „ 88 
Harrier - Eagle, white-breasted (Circaetus gallicus). 
Harrier-Eagle, dark-breasted (Circaetus cinereus ).—The first- 
named, our old friend the serpent-eagle of Spain, we shot 
both here and on White Nile, also in the Red Sea Province. 
But on the Dinder we came across another eagle obviously 
