ZOOLOGY. 
359 
Francolin and guinea-fowl are most abundant, but 
the latter bird I have never met with at any great 
altitude above the plains. 
Numbers of water-birds frequent the shallow lakes 
and swamps in the vicinity of Kilim a-njaro. Lake 
Jipe is a great resort of pelicans, geese, egrets, and 
saddle-billed storks. I have only noticed one water- 
bird on the mountain at any altitude, and this was a 
species of duck, I think Anas xanthorhyncus , which 
was found inhabiting ice-cold streams at an elevation 
of 11,000 feet. 
The abundance of vultures has already been re¬ 
marked, and is in marked contrast to what may be 
observed in West Africa, where these vultures are 
absent, and their place is filled by another Accipitrine 
scavenger (Gypohierax ), who apparently finds so little 
offal to sustain him, that he has in many places to 
turn his attention to fishing. 3 
The ostrich which is so numerous in the vicinity of 
Kilima-njaro, is a recently determined species— Stru- 
thius Danaoides , Shelley-—apparently differing from 
S. camelus in the colour of the soft parts and naked 
skin, and the size and markings of the egg. I kept 
many of the young ostriches alive during my residence 
at Taveita. As most of my readers know, young 
ostriches for the first few months of their life are 
covered with curious scale-like plumes, but, unless 
they are scientific ornithologists, they may not be also 
aware that the hand (wing) of the ostrich exhibits 
three fingers, instead of the two that most other birds 
possess. The third finger is without a claw. This is 
but one of the many details which make the ostrich 
more reptilian than other living birds. The ostriches 
3 Vide “The River Congo,” p. 356. 
