In November 1997 we (B & D Königstedt, S & D Robel) undertook a round trip of the Etosha National Park in Namibia. On 26 November, at about 06.30 hrs, we stopped at the Nuamses waterhole north of the Halali camp. As at other waterholes, it was surrounded by thousands of Red-billed Quelea. Large flocks were perched so densely on the surrounding bushes that the latter were no longer visible. The flocks flew off and returned to their perches continuously. Other flocks then descended onto the banks of the waterhole to drink and bathe. As there was no room for the huge numbers of birds, those arriving later flew over those on the banks, some landing in deeper water. A few minutes later the first Queleas left the banks and returned to their perches on the bushes. To our astonishment we noticed that several birds, which had been forced to land in deeper water, could apparently not take off and paddled helplessly in the water. They suddenly disappeared into the depths. This procedure – a large flock dropping into the water and flying off again, with some birds remaining in the water and being dragged down into the depths – was repeated several times. In the course of two hours some 30 birds disappeared in this way.