The wild goose, or Egyptian goose, _Chenalopex aegyptiacus_, one of the most edible of the South African game birds, with several species of wild duck, frequent the watercourses. Herons, storks, ibises, flamingos, and spoonbills are among the wading birds; the flamingos are often in large numbers in North Damaraland and Ovamboland. Eagles and vultures are among the birds of prey, with owls and several species of the hawk family. The Secretary bird, _Serpentarius secretarius_, with its curious quill-like crest of feathers, may sometimes be seen stalking in characteristic solemn fashion among the low bush in search of a little animal or a young snake. Those queer birds, the penguins, with their black coats and white waistcoats, thickly inhabit the islands off the coast. The gannet, the smaller cormorant, with the penguin, have been protected by the Cape Government on account of their importance as yielders of guano, and immense flocks exist to-day. Among the smaller birds are the wattled starling, _Dilophus carunculatus_, two pratincoles, _Glareola melanoptera_ and _G. pratincola_, all locust birds, which pursue their prey high in the air, wheeling and darting and turning in wonderfully attractive fashion; hoopoes, honey-guides, swifts, woodpeckers, hornbills, and weavers. The honey-guide (_Indicatoridæ_) is a most interesting bird. Its intelligence is as remarkable as its pertinacity, and it will give the sportsman no rest until he has followed the twittering creature to the bees’ nest. The remarkable-looking hornbills, with their huge bills, very soon attract the attention of the traveller. The social weaver, _Philetaerus socius_, is famous for its peculiar nest-building habits. The birds are sociable little creatures and live together in colonies of several hundreds. The nest, really a bird city, is generally a huge mass of grass and sticks, cunningly arranged in a camelthorn tree, and is often as big as a small haystack. A colony of 500 birds may sometimes be found in the nest. The entrance is from beneath as a protection against tree snakes, and there are generally several “doors.” Inside there are a number of “streets” and “compartments,” with individual nests in rows like little homes on each side of a street. The nests are added to year by year, and sometimes they become too heavy for the branches, with the result that the branches give way and the “city” falls to pieces. THE SNAKES The reptile world is represented by a number of exceedingly venomous snakes, but fortunately they are not numerous, and deaths from snake-bite are of rare occurrence. There is the ferocious cobra, one of the most deadly snakes in South Africa, of which there are several species. Anchietas cobra, _Naia Anchietæ_, attains to an average length of 5 feet, and the well-known Cape cobra, _Naia Flava_, is about the same length. These reptiles are as active as they are venomous.