Birds.
The Bird fauna of the Sudan is rich and interesting. Visitors will be most struck by the aquatic species whose abundance on the rivers forms one of the most pleasing features of the scenery. The practice of shooting at birds from steamers (forbidden by law, as is all trading in plumes) cannot be too strongly deprecated. This practice has within the last 30 years banished most of the bird-life from the Egyptian parts of the Nile for ever.
Most of the birds, which are summer visitors to Europe, winter in the Sudan, or pass through it on their way further south. Conspicuous among these winter visitors are Hoopoes, Golden Orioles, Bee-eaters, Shrikes, Warblers, Wagtails, Flycatchers, &c. Small resident species are abundant, the various kinds of Weaver-finches predominating in numbers and collecting in vast flights. Among this family the beautiful scarlet and black “Dura-bird” (Pyromelana franciscana) and the long-tailed Whydah Bird (Steganura paradisea) are specially noticeable. The handsome Glossy Starlings—characteristic African birds—are represented by the genera Spreo, Lamprocolius, and Lamprotornis. Several species of Nightjars occur, noteworthy among which is the remarkable Standard-Wing (Macrodipteryx), bearing a large racket-shaped web at the end of an elongated wire-like feather in each wing.
Colies, or “Mouse-birds,” Kingfishers, Hornbills (chief among which is the great black-and-white Bucorax abyssinicus), Bee-eaters, Rollers and Cuckoos are well represented, as also are Larks and Wheatears. Shining little Sun-birds frequent the forests and enter the gardens in the towns.
Green parrakeets are common, and the grey parrot may be found on the Uganda boundary.
Of birds of prey there are Vultures, Eagles, Falcons, Ospreys, Harriers, Buzzards, Hawks, and Owls in great variety—among which may be mentioned the Noisy River Eagle (Haliaetus vocifer), the Secretary Bird (Serpentarius secretarius), and the handsome Bateleur Eagle (Helotarsus ecaudatus).
The rivers abound with Pelicans, Cormorants, Darters, Herons, Egrets, Bitterns, Storks, Ibises, and Spoonbills. Among these the great carrion-feeding Adjutant or Marabou (Leptoptilus crumeniferus) is conspicuous. The remarkable and very local Whale-headed Stork (Balæniceps rex) is found in the swamps of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and Bahr-el-Jebel, while the stately Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis)—iridescent black and white with long brilliantly-coloured bill—is more widely met with. Flamingoes are scarce; Spur-winged and Egyptian Geese, and Whistling Teal, resident and plentiful. Their numbers are swelled by large hosts of northern-breeding ducks, which arrive in the autumn and remain till the spring. Vast numbers of Plovers, Godwits, Whimbrels, Sandpipers, and Terns also winter on the Nile. Snipe occur, but in comparatively small numbers, the area of irrigated land being very limited, and the grasses of the Nile swamps being too high and thick for them.
COURT OF THE PALACE, KHARTOUM, WITH Balæniceps rex.
Three species of Sandgrouse are very abundant; the commonest (Pterocles exustus) affords the best bird shooting in the country—in the dry season they daily flight in thousands from the deserts to drink at the rivers. Doves and Guinea-fowl swarm in most parts; Francolins are more local and less plentiful. Quail are also found in parts.
A large Bustard (Eupodotis arabis) is plentiful and gives pretty rifle shooting. Three or four smaller bustards also occur.
The strikingly-beautiful Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina) is resident and common, and in the winter immense flights of Common Cranes (Grus grus) and smaller numbers of the Demoiselle (Grus virgo) spread over the country.
The Ostrich is generally distributed, but is most abundant in Western Kordofan.