618 
Colonel S. R. Clarke on 
Libis, 
species of Cormorant, Senegal and Spurwing Plovers and 
Greenshanks and Lily-Trotters thronged the sandy islands, a 
ceaseless stream of Spur wing Geese and Open-bills passed 
overhead, and the smooth surface of the river near the fringe 
of reeds was continually broken by the splashes of diving 
Kingfishers. 
It was a delightful scene—an evening to be remembered. 
We shot a few herons and plovers, and then lay on the 
ground, the silence broken by the rippling of the clear river 
below us, the plop-plop of rising fish, and now and again 
the wild whistle of Pishing Eagles (Haliaetus vocifer ). We 
looked beyond the river at a fresh country; by the track we 
had come the slightly rolling veld had continued to the 
actual bank of the stream, but on the north side the river 
held in domination a wide tract of country ; grassy flats 
intersected by lagoons and reed-beds extended beyond our 
range of sight, and promised a rich reward for several days’ 
investigation. Unfortunately, the Lechwe and Puku we 
were seeking were not so abundant as we had expected, and 
after a couple of days spent among these delights of marsh- 
birds, we left for the thicker bush near the Nasenea River. 
During these days we saw vast numbers of Spurwing 
Geese, and found them easy of approach. One party came 
to bathe in the river 50 yards away from our tents and paid 
a toll towards our food supply. I crawled up to another lot 
of about fifteen, and shot one with my Mauser ; they were 
so slow at rising that I was able to pump up another cart¬ 
ridge and kill a second before it was on the wing. Other 
large birds were Crowned Cranes (Balearica regulorum ), and 
another Crane which we thought to be the Stanley , but though 
we saw two or three pairs we were not able to secure a 
specimen ; the Goliath Heron and the Saddle-billed Stork 
were also seen, and we killed one of each. There were a 
few flocks of Whydahs and Bishop-birds about the reeds, 
unfortunately the species were not identified ; and I saw one 
Quail, but generally speaking small birds were not very 
abundant. Further on, beyond the country of lagoon and 
reed beds, we found large grassy flats which appeared to be 
