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7

NIMAL L
N AFRICA

?ARf in. BIRDS, REPTILES & FISHES

BY
MAJOR J. STEVENSON-HAMILTON

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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

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ANIMAL LIFE
IN AFRICA

THE HERO READERS

SHACKLETON IN THli ANTARCTIC
By Sir Ernest Shackleton, C.V.O. ,
256 pages, 48 full-page Illustrations from
photographs. Price is 6d.
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In two parts, each 256 pages, Illustrated.

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It is now generally recognized that history-
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find that the above books will make a direct appeal
to the young reader.

LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN 21 BEDFORD ST., W.C.

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ANIMAL LIFE
IN AFRICA

BY MAJOR J. STEVENSON-HAMILTON

F.R.G.S., C.M.Z.S., LATE 6th (INNISKILLING) DRAGOONS

WARDEN OF THE TRANSVAAL GOVERNMENT GAME

RESERVES

Book III

MISCELLANEOUS

(BIRDS : REPTILES : FISH)

LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN

London : William Heinemann iqi7

:^5i

INTRODUCTION

I HAVE divided the present edition of Animal Life in
Africa into three small volumes, each of them practically
self-contained and dealing respectively with :

(i) The carnivorous or flesh-eating animals ; together
with chapters on apes, monkeys, baboons, and some
miscellaneous types ;

(2) The hoofed herbivorous, or vegetable-eating animals;

(3) Some of the birds, reptiles, and fishes.

A table of classification has been added in the form
of an appendix to each volume.

Since natural history terms are not in everyday use,
the following explanation of some of them may be found
useful.

Species : A group of animals which bear a very close
resemblance to one another with regard to the most
essential points of their bodily structure. Thus all
domestic cats, though individuals may differ in colour,
size and other points, are alike in the chief charac-
teristics of their structure, and belong to the same
species.

Genus {plural, genera) : A group of animals consisting
of one or more different species. Thus the lion
and the leopard belong to different species of the
same genus — that of the true cats. Animals be-
longing to the same genus are not so closely alike
as those belonging to the same species, but they

viii INTRODUCTION

have certain characteristics in common by means
of which they are distinguished from aU others.

Family : A group of animals consisting of one or more
genera. A family is, of course, a wider classification
than a genus, and the characteristics which its
members have in common are fewer in number.
Thus a dog and a fox belong to the same family,
though of different genera.

Order : An order is a still more comprehensive group,
and consists of animals which are alike in only a very
few special features. Thus all flesh-eating animals,
to whatever family they belong, are placed in the
order Carnivora, and all herb-eating animals in the
order Herbivora.

Class : This is the largest group of all, and consists
of animals which have the broadest and most
general characteristics in common.

The principal of the eight classes into which the Verte-
brates, or those animals which are possessed of a back-
bone, are divided are :

(i) Mammals : Warm-blooded animals which suckle
their young.

(2) Birds, which are warm-blooded animals, covered

with feathers, and usually, though not always,
possessed of the power of flight.

(3) Reptiles, which are cold-blooded primitive animals,

with a skin formed of horny plates or scales, but
which breathe in the same manner as the fore-
going.

(4) Amphibians : Cold-blooded primitive animals, whose

young are aquatic and breathe through gills like
fishes. Frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders are
amphibians.

INTRODUCTION ix

(5) Fishes : Cold-blooded aquatic animals, which breathe
air through gills during their whole lives.

The above five large classes, together with three others
consisting of small marine creatures, make up the Verte-
brate sub-kingdom of the great Animal kingdom.

It might seem superfluous to go further and define
what an " animal " really is, were it not that there
occurs not infrequent misconception on the point. An
animal, then, is that which can be classed neither as a
vegetable nor as a mineral, and so the term includes
all birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects.

Other descriptive terms used are explained in the
text. A few of the most common, however, are, for
convenience of reference, given below.

Arboreal : Used to describe animals which live in, or
habitually frequent trees.

Nocturnal : Used to describe animals which lie up
during the daytime and issue forth to hunt their
food, &c., at night.

Migratory : Used to describe animals which wander
regularly or occasionally from one region to another.

Pachyderms : Thick-skinned animals, such as the
elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus.

Ungulates : Hoofed animals.

Specialization : The development of an organ of the body
in some special direction. In whatever degree groups
or species of animals have developed peculiarities
of structure distinguishing them each from older
and more simply formed groups or species, so are they
described as being more or less highly specialized.

Environment : The surroundings of the animal, and
the external conditions with which it constantly
comes into contact.

BOOK III b

X INTRODUCIION

Rudimentary : An organ is said to be rudimentary
when it is not fully developed, or is in an early stage
of development.

Plantigrade : A term applied to animals which walk
on the soles of their feet, and on what in human
beings would be the palms of the hands (elephants,
bears, &c.).

DiGiTi grade: a term applied to animals which walk upon
what would be among human beings the points of
the toes and the ends of the fingers. The wrist and
heel thus become what are termed in the horse the
knee and the point of the hock respectively. Among
the camivora the first joint of the fingers becomes
a pad on which the animal walks, and the nails,
instead of solidifying into hoofs, as among the
majority of the herbivora, become claws for scraping
or for holding prey. The large majority of both
carnivorous and herbivorous animals are digitigrade.

Fauna : The fauna of a country implies its animal as
distinct from its plant life (flora).

Ruminants : Ungulates which chew the cud.

BoviDiE : That large family of the ruminants which
have their horns in the form of a hollow sheath
enclosing a bony core and do not cast them annually
like the CervidcB or deer family. Cattle, sheep, and
antelopes belong to the BovidcB family.

Antelope : This term is popularly applied to those of
the hollow-homed ruminants which are neither
cattle, sheep, nor goats. It is incapable of any
clearer definition. Some tribes of antelopes appear
more nearly to resemble the cattle and buffaloes,
others the goats.

J. Stevenson-Hamilton

CONTENTS

PART I
BIRDS

CHAP. PAGE

I. MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS i

II. THE OSTRICH— BUSTARDS— DIKKOPS 3

III. GAME BIRDS 10

IV. BIRDS OF PREY— EAGLES, KITES, THE

SECRETARY BIRD 26

V. BIRDS OF PREY— VULTURES 37

VI. BIRDS OF PREY— OWLS 41

VII. MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS : I 44

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS : II 50

IX. MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS : III 59

PART II

REPTILES

X. CROCODILES 68

XI. ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES 76

XII. LIZARDS AND TORTOISES 87

XIII. SNAKES— THE PYTHON 92

xii CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

XIV. SOME HARMLESS SNAKES lOO

XV. POISONOUS SNAKES— THE MAMBA : COBRAS 102

XVI. POISONOUS SNAKES— VIPERS : BACK-

FANGED SNAKES 113

PART III

FRESH-WATER FISH

XVII. TROUT AND CARP : TIGER-FISH : BARBER :

YELLOW FISH : MISCELLANEOUS 117

APPENDIX 129

ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA
BOOK III: MISCELLANEOUS

PART I
BIRDS

CHAPTER I

MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS

Nine hundred and twenty species of birds, including the
European migrants, have been described from south
Africa up to the present, while throughout the con-
tinent at large, classification has made considerable
progress. For zoological purposes the northern limits
of the sub-continent are usually taken to be the Zambezi
and Cunene Rivers, that is to say, roughly sixteen degrees
of south latitude. North of this, central and east
African types of mammals and birds begin to show
themselves. A high range of mountains sometimes
apparently affects the distribution of birds, and species
may occur on one side which are not found on the
other.

The question of the migrations of birds has recently
received a good deal of attention in south Africa. Many
species, as is well known, spend the summer in Europe
or in north Africa, and come south again before the
cold weather begins ; most of these are birds which breed

2 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

in the northern hemisphere, though individuals of certain
species are said to remain occasionally all the year in
the south, and nest there. Others again are purely
African types, which go no further north than the tropics
to spend the cold southern winter, and information
is required as to exactly where some of them go to.
As regards the European visitors, while some authorities
have maintained that the migrants from farthest north
wend their way farthest south, others suggest the reverse.
During the last few years some very interesting experi-
ments have been carried out among the white storks.
Societies in Germany and Hungary have adopted a
method of attaching aluminium rings to the legs of
young storks while still in the fledgling stage, with the
result that birds marked in Germany have been found
a few months later in north-eastern Rhodesia, Bechuana-
land, and Baautoland ; while others, which came from
Hungary, were discovered in Natal, the Transvaal,
Basutoland, and the Orange Free State.

In order, so far as possible, to arrive at some rough
idea of the times of arrival and departure of various
kinds of migratory birds, the Transvaal Museum has,
for some years, been in the habit of sending to various
likely people in south Africa a list of species, with the
request that they will note, on a card sent for the purpose,
the date on which they first and last noticed each,
together with the direction of the wind at the time.

Although the replies were unfortunately far fewer than
might reasonably have been expected, still, enough were
sent to form, even up to the present, very interesting
data. Thus, white storks seem to begin to arrive about
the middle of October, and depart from February onwards
! until April. European rollers '^'arrive in October, and
f leave in March. Bee-eaters "^are resident from October

THE OSTRICH 3

■ till the beginning of May. European swallows begin
to arrive about the end of September, and the last of
them leave about the first week in May. Of African

/migrants, the stripe-breasted 7 swallow remains from
September till April in south Africa ; the carmine-

f throated bee-eater/ from September till the end of March.
In fact, there is a general arrival of all visitors about
the beginning of October, and an exodus at the com-
mencement of the following April.

CHAPTER II
THE OSTRICH : BUSTARDS : DIKKOPS

/The Ostrich.? The ostrich belongs to the sub-class
of flightless birds, devoid of any keel to the breastbone,
and scientifically known as Yatitce. It is, further, the
only representative of its family, and is distinguished
by the absence of all but the third and fourth toes on
each foot.

Ostriches exist throughout the greater part of Africa,
in suitable surroundings, but they are absent from the
forest regions of west Africa and the Congo, and have
not been met with in Nyasaland, nor in northern
Rhodesia. This blank on the map forms a neutral
zone between the southern race and those found through
the northern part of GefmofinEast Africa and Somaliland.

An extreme northerly form also exists in Arabia.

It was not until about the year 1870 that ostrich
farming was seriously adopted as an industry in the
Cape Colony ; but in these forty years it has made
enormous strides, both in scope and in the improvement
of the birds by selection. In 1874 the weight of feathers
exported was 36,829 lb., valued at ;£205,64o, while in

4 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

1904 the amoiint had risen to 470,381 lb., valued at
£1,058,988. In these thirty years, consequent on the
increasing supply, ostrich feathers had sunk from
:^5 IIS. yd. to £2 5s. per lb. In east Africa, too, the
industry is progressing well, and the quality of the birds
is good. The ostrich, therefore, may be fairly considered
to have taken his place among the useful domestic
servants of man.

Wild birds at present exist (in south Africa) in the
north-eastern Transvaal, southern Rhodesia, and the
southern part of Portuguese East Africa, besides Bechu-
analand and fteiliiia^South-West Africa. There are large
numbers in the Transvaal Game Reserves, from the
/Crocodile River?to the Limpopo, a distance of some three
hundred miles, principally in the flats at the base of the
'Lebombo Hills. 9 Such experiments as have been under-
taken with wild birds in the Transvaal have not, however,
so far been very successful, the quality of the feathers
of the bush-bird being inferior to the Cape variety.

During the mating season ostriches are generally
seen in pairs, a cock and a hen bird ; less frequently
several hens accompany one cock. The cock and the
hen together excavate the nest, which is merely a large
circular hollow scraped in the bare ground, often far
from any trees or other shade. In this the eggs, about
twenty in number, are laid. Those of the southern
ostrich are of a very light straw colour, pitted with little
depressions, whilst in the east African and Somaliland
forms the depressions are of darkish colour, and in the
northern type are altogether absent. The hen bird
sits on the eggs by day and the cock relieves her at night,
so that the eggs are never left unguarded during incu-
bation. The birds sit with their necks extended straight
along the ground, and the grey feathers of the hen by

Sail Game Reserve, P/i»lo

OSTRICH CHICK

6 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

day and the black ones of the cock by night are very
hard to distinguish.

In the eastern Transvaal the, nesting period seems to
lie between August and January. I found twenty-one
eggs in a nest on the i8th August, and one taken had a
partially developed chick inside. Another nest, con-
taining eighteen eggs, was found on 28th December ;
the young ones were just ready to hatch out. I have
also noticed very young chicks in October. On the
fAthi Plains? of British East Africa the season seems
very much the same. The incubation period lasts from
five to six weeks, and on coming out the chicks are
helpless for the first day, but after that speedily become
active. If young ostriches are being artificially reared,
great care must be taken that they are kept warm at
night, as they are extremely susceptible to cold.

Wild ostriches feed on various leaves, twigs, seeds
and small plants, which they cover great distances
to seek. To assist digestion they swallow stones and
other hard objects. They are amongst the wariest of
game, and are very fleet of foot, running with their heads
held back and wings clear of the thighs. Unfortunately
for them, their habit of going in wide circles deprives
them of much of the advantage derived from their
speed. A cock ostrich can deliver a blow from his foot
equal to the kick of a horse, and tame ones are often
dangerous at certain times of year. Their habit of
"waltzing" has often been described. After leaving
the nest the chicks accompany their parents until well
grown, and later the birds are sometimes found associ-
ated in large troops, which probably are temporary
collections of various family parties.

The chief enemies of the full-grown ostrich are the
lion, the chita, and the hunting dog. The lion stalks

THE OSTRICH 7

the bird in the ordinary manner, the chita runs him
down after crawUng up as near as possible before making
its dash, while the packs of hunting dogs are so well
aware of the ostrich's weakness that they always run
the diameter of the circle which he is describing. The
two latter species of carnivora, however, prefer, when
possible, the hens and half-grown birds as quarry.
During the incubation period, the eggs are well guarded
against the onslaughts of the birds and lesser beasts of
prey ; but before their tally is complete they are often
left unprotected, and then hysenas, jackals, bush-pigs,
and the like often wreak wholesale destruction. If, on
her return, she finds that the nest has been tampered
with, the hen is said to desert it and lay a fresh clutch
elsewhere, previously breaking up the remainder of the
eggs herself.

There are various stories current in some parts of
Africa to the effect that vultures or other birds of prey
will carry up stones into the air and drop them on to
ostrich nests in order to break the eggs therein. The
best rule when listening to an improbable story is to
keep a perfectly open mind about it until an opportunity
of personally testing its truth arrives. I think it was the
"roc" in the "Arabian Nights" that used to carry
up big stones and drop them on to persons and things
it did not like ; but I never saw any bird in real life do
such a thing. However, many birds of prey do carry
up into the air and drop tortoises, in order to break their
shells, and it is quite possible they might do the same
thing with ostrich eggs, though I should imagine most
of them would have no difficulty in breaking them with
their beaks without going to the considerable frouble
of flying away with them.

The call of the male ostrich is a loud booming some-

8 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

times mistaken at a distance, and by a novice, for the
roar of a lion. Millais, in " A Breath from the Veld,"
devotes an interesting paragraph to this matter.

Bustards

This family is represented in south Africa by eleven
species. They eat insects, berries, and seeds, and lay
two eggs to a clutch.

The Giant Bustard. This fine bird, which attain? to
a length of about five feet, a wing spread of eight feet and
a half, and a total weight of forty pounds, is met with
through east, central, and southern Africa. It favours
rather open country, covered with scattered bush. Its
flight, though heavy, is rapid, and it can make excellent
use of its legs also. It is generally seen singly or in pairs ;
sometimes a female with her latest offspring. It is an
extremely wary bird, and seldom permits approach
within fifty or sixty yards, even where unaccustomed
to persecution. Mounted hunters sometimes adopt
the plan of riding narrowing rings round it, which
method seems occasionally to confuse and keep it on the
ground.

The species appears locally migratory, and I have
noticed it in particular areas only at certain times of
year.

The Stanley Bustard. This, the second largest of
the genus, is partial to open country and hilly uplands,
and is met with in the high country of east and south
Africa.

Ludwig's Bustard is another fine bird, measuring
over three feet in length. It is migratory in habit,
and its environment is that of the last species.

There are eight species of lesser bustards, locally
known as knorhaan, described from South Africa, all

BUSTARDS 9

of which are excellent sporting birds. They get up
suddenly and go away with a heavy, but fairly swift
flight, some species uttering loud and raucous cries.
When believing themselves unobserved they crouch
on the ground with their necks stretched straight out
in front of them, and often endeavour to escape by
running through the grass with their heads held very
low.

The best known in the bush country is the Red-
Crested Bustard, so called from the reddish tuft of
feathers on the nape of the male, more pronounced
during the breeding season, and fading soon after death.
Like all its family, it is rather solitary in habit, being found
usually singly or at mating times in pairs. It rises suddenly
and silently and has a way of zig-zagging through the
trees when flying away, thus affording a very sporting
shot. Its call is a series of single notes, harsh and
frequently repeated ; when uttering them the skin of the
throat is puffed out like a bladder.

The most remarkable habit of this bird, however, is
the " towering " of the males. Towards sundown the
cock bird will suddenly rise straight into the air, higher,
and yet higher, above the sea of bush, until at a height
of over a hundred feet he pauses, as if suspended, with
flapping wings. Suddenly closing the latter tightly to
his sides he drops towards earth like a stone. With
such velocity does he fall that to the onlooker it seems
that he must be dashed to pieces ; but in a moment
the wings are once more outstretched, and with a couple
of graceful circles he alights safely and easily, to rise
once more and repeat the performance. I think these
aerial gymnastics probably have some connexion with
the pairing season, or atmospheric conditions, as it is
by no means always possible to witness them, and,

10 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

while on some evenings a dozen birds may be in sight in
the air at one time, months may pass without anything
of the kind occurring.

The Dikkops. Two species of these are described
in south Africa, the Cape Thickknee and the Water
Thickknee. Like the bustards they are three-toed
birds, and are found in pairs or small parties. They have
a silent flight and a curious method of walking and
running, the head being jerked forward with each step.
They crouch and hide in the grass and bush even more
than the knorhaans.

CHAPTER III

GAME BIRDS

Guinea-fowls : Pheasants : Francolins : Quails : The
Sandgrouse : Snipe : Waterfowl

Most of the African game birds are contained in the
family which comprises the guinea-fowls, so-called
pheasants, francolins and quails. Consequent on their
many natural enemies, their numbers within any given
area fluctuate very much from season to season. Thus,
after a wet summer, when the grass has been long,
providing plentiful cover, and a good supply of insect
and other food, they are usually numerous ; but when
conditions are reversed, young and old birds suffer so
much, and so few eggs get the chance of hatching, that
their total is relatively small in the following winter.

The Crowned Guinea-Fowl. This is the common
guinea-fowl of south Africa, its range extends northwards
to about south latitude fifteen degrees and roughly
between longitudes twenty degrees and thirty-five
degrees.

GAME BIRDS ii

It is seldom found far from water, and, though partial
to feeding in the open in the evenings and early mornings,
during the heat of the day shelters itself in thick bush
and long grass. Through the winter months these
birds are seen associated in enormous flocks, and at
this time frequent the neighbourhood of native villages,
where they pick about among the lands for insects and
grain. At night they roost in trees and thick bushes, fre-
quently those overhanging water. The pairing time comes
with the first rains, and thenceforth the birds are only
found in couples in the densest bush, and entirely desert
the neighbourhood of human habitations. In my expe-
rience, therefore, they do practically no harm to summer
crops, and I think the occasional agitation against them
on that account is founded on an entire misconception
of their nature and habits. About March or early April,
in the eastern Transvaal, the parent birds lead forth
their broods, and the flocks once more begin to assemble.
In spring the colours on the bare skin of the head and
neck become much brighter in the cock birds. From
seven to ten eggs are laid in a clutch, and the spot is so
well chosen that the nest, a small scraped-out depression
amidst long grass and thick bush, is most difficult to
locate.

Their food consists of seeds, bulbs, grass, and other
roots, and insects ; they do an enormous amount of
good in destroying locusts and their eggs, quartering
the ground for the latter when they discover the breeding-
ground.

Guinea-fowls drink, in the winter, just at sundown,
but in hot weather often at sunrise also, and I have
seen a flock come down to the water at 3 p.m. in
September. They are very early risers, and at grey
dawn they may be seen briskly moving over their feeding-

12 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

grounds, very little in the way of food escaping their
notice. At such times they have an amusing way of
ruffling their feathers and chasing each other. They
are great runners, and most difficult to flush ; when
they do rise it is with a great deal of noise and fuss ;
the flight is straight, and they are very easy birds to
shoot. Pursued by dogs, they seem to lose their heads
and then take refuge in the nearest large trees, from
which they show considerable disinclination to move.
I have, in fact, seen a single dog, by running backwards
and forwards barking from one to the other, keep guinea-
fowl treed in half a dozen places at the same time.

Their call is a raucous " ka-a-a-k, kak, kak, kak,"
which is instantly recognizable when it has once been
heard.

They domesticate readily. Mr. Sanderson used to
have a great number about his farm, but, though so
tame that they would even come into the house after
food, the commencement of the breeding season saw
their departure to the bush, whence they would not
return for several months.

Probably few creatures have a larger number of enemies,
so conspicuous does their congregation in flocks, and
their large size, render them. By day a bird of prey,
sailing above in the blue, constantly excites the utmost
terror and consternation amongst guinea-fowls in the
open, and causes them at once, with much cackling,
to scuttle for the nearest shelter. By night every tree-
climbing creature, from the leopard downwards, takes
its share of toll, while all the host of other predatory
beasts are ever on the alert to seize their opportunity.
Civilized man with his gun, and savage man with his
snares, exact at aU times a heavy tribute ; but in spite
of it all, given favourable summers, with plenty of food

GAME BIRDS 13

and covert, the species holds its own amazingly well.
I did not believe that such enormous numbers could
exist in any one area as I saw in 1899 on the middle
reaches of the Kwando. The country on the west bank
was uninhabited, and there were stretches of swampy
grass land extending from a fringe of thick forest to the
river's brink. In the late evenings these places used
to be one mass of guinea-fowl on their way down to
drink, and one found it difficult to comprehend whence
came the food to supply such countless numbers.

In GamwA ^outh-West Africa, northwards to the
Cunene River, the place of the above species is taken
by a nearly allied one, distinguished by the crown or
helmet being bright red instead of bluish black.

In Portuguese territory north of the Zambezi, and
through aU east Africa, the species met with has a small
conical and pale-coloured helmet. Its habits are as
those of the others ; but in Portuguese Nyasaland
I noticed a custom prevalent amongst the flocks which
is foreign, in my experience, to the crowned guinea-fowl.
After the conclusion of the morning foraging expedition,
instead of going away to spend the heat of the day
in the long grass or low scrub, they would fly up into
the branches of large trees growing in swamps or sur-
rounded by dense undergrowth or cane-brake, and remain
there until the late afternoon, when they would come
down to feed.

There are some four other species of crowned guinea-
fowls known in Africa, and that which I saw on the
upper Nile seemed not at all to differ in habits from its
cousins in the Transvaal.

The Crested Guinea-Fowl. This is a very handsome
bird, its head covered on the top with a crest of curly
black feathers. The rest of the plumage is black, mottled

14 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

with light blue spots, and there are chestnut markings
on the breast.

The crested guinea-fowl is never found associated
in the large flocks characteristic of its crowned relative.
It is of most retiring habits, and small troops of only
six or seven individuals are met with in mountainous
or thickly bushed country. Its range extends from
Natal and Amatongaland, where it used to be pretty
numerous on the top of the Lebombo HiUs, through
the coast lands of Portuguese East Africa. Several
other allied forms are described from different parts of
Africa.

The Vulturine Guinea-Fowl is an inhabitant of
the eastern part of Africa. It is a strikingly handsome
bird, the head bare of feathers, the neck, wings, and
flanks being coloured a bright blue.

The African Pheasants. These birds (about equal
in size to English partridges) are distinguished by their
throats being bare of feathers, and generally brightly
coloured. They are usually great runners, and often
most difficult to flush, so that they are not very sporting
birds. They are found in more or less thickly bushed or
forested country, and at no great distance from water.
There are about nine species recognized in Africa, of
which three are found south of the Zambezi. Of these
three, two are known respectively as the northern and
the southern red-necked pheasants ; both have the
bare skin round the eye, and on the throat bright red.
The former, which is distributed between about 15°
and 25° south latitude, has reddish black legs, and in
both species the males have strong and sharp spurs.

The food of the former consists of insects, bulbs,
berries, and grass seeds, which latter I have seen indi-
viduals jumping up to pick. The bird is very fond of

GAME BIRDS 15

small grain, and often hangs about villages in quest of
scattered millet seeds, and does some damage to ripe
crops of this kind. It drinks well before sundown and
daily, feeding its way down to the water, and often
flying back therefrom to the bush. In habit it is solitary,"
except at the pairing season and when the mother is
looking after her latest brood, which remains with her
until almost full grown. It roosts in trees, but the nest
is made on the ground concealed among grass and
brushwood, and, like those of most other game birds,
is merely a slightly hollowed-out depression lined with
feathers and grass. I found a nest in March containing
five eggs, and on 3rd May I saw a female with three
young ones, apparently about a couple of weeks old.
On the 28th of the same month, also in the neighbourhood
of the Selati Railway in the eastern Transvaal, I met a
single hen in the path. She ruffled her feathers and
acted generally as if she would dispute progress, after
a while running off with her wing dragging in the recog-
nized manner of mother birds. A short search revealed
the presence of a single very young chick in the grass
by the path side ; there may have been others, but the
natives and myself were unable to find them. On the
other hand, I have noticed coveys of young birds fairly
strong on the wing, in the same district in April ; so
that I fancy the nesting season in the Transvaal low
country, at all events, is not very regular. The cocks
of this species are very fond of perching on the top of a
dead tree or some dry branch, where, with a good field of
view, they sit uttering their raucous call of " kwa-ri,
kwa-ri, kwa-a-a-ri," which is responsible for their native
name in south-east Africa.

When running they hold their heads very high and their
bodies almost vertical. They are easily caught in

i6 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

traps baited with grain, and I have had several young
birds running with my fowls at different times. When
fully grown they quite naturally prefer the society of
their own kind, and forsake the safety of domesticity
for the freedom of the bush. .

The other, or southern, form of red-necked pheasant
exists in the wooded districts of Cape Colony and Natal,
and extends as far north as the eastern Transvaal, where
individuals are sometimes, though very rarely, found
on the borders of the low coimtry among the foot-hills
of the Drakensberg. This (lat. 25° S.) forms about the
extreme north limit of their range, and they are very
uncommon there. They are easily distinguished from
the kindred type by their red legs.

The White- Ringed Pheasant has the bright red bare
skin on the throat surrounded by a pure white band ;
the ear covers are white, and the bill and legs bright red.
It ranges as far south as the Inhambane district of
Portuguese East Africa, where it is quite numerous,
and near the coast appears to take the place of the red-
necked type. It inhabits very dense bush, and has the
tree-perching and roosting habits of the other species.
It extends northwards into British East Africa.

The Francolins. This genus contains over forty
species in Africa. They differ greatly in size, ranging
from the little coqui, to the big Jackson's francolin of
east Africa. Unlike the pheasants, they are feathered
on the neck ; the males are usually provided with spurs.
They are, as a rule, more ready to take to the wing
than the pheasants ,and so find greater favour with
sportsmen.

The Natal Francolin is a very common bird in the
Sabi and Olifants areas of the Transvaal. It is found
in wooded country, near rivers and spruits ; favouring

GAME BIRDS 17

especially the thick bush by their margins, and may be
recognized by its red bill and legs and white breast with
V-shaped black markings.

Its feeding and drinking habits are very similar to those
of the red-necked pheasant. It is a much shyer bird,
and is less frequently found near villages. When dis-
turbed it goes away with a strong and noisy flight, uttering
harsh cries of alarm, and generally takes refuge in the
branches of some leafy tree or bush at no great distance
from the ground. It is also a good runner. It is usually
seen in family parties, but the cocks sometimes go singly.
I have seen coveys of young birds in April, and found a
hen sitting on a clutch of six whitish eggs on 8th December
near the Sabi River ; but I also caught an unfledged one
on 31st May, and noticed a newly hatched-out brood
on 24th August in the same district, so that the nesting
appears to occur very irregularly. The nest is hollowed
out of the ground and hidden in the usual manner. A
not uncommon ruse of single birds to escape detection
when perched in a tree is very quietly to creep round to
the other side of the trunk, thus interposing it as a
protection. By walking very slowly, so as to lead it
to believe itself unobserved, and at the same time gradually
working round, you wiU see it again slip round the tree;
and it will continue to do this so long as it imagines you
have not noticed it. It roosts in trees at night.

This francohn ranges from Natal northwards. An
apparently kindred type exists in the Kikuyu forest
of British East Africa, at a height of 8000 feet. This
species was laying in early October there, and I found a
nest containing five fresh eggs.

The Crested Francolin is a smaller bird than the last.
Its colour is rufous brown, merging into olive on the
back, the feathers having very conspicuous white shaft

i8 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

marks ; underneath it is light buff, with dark shaftings
on the upper breast, which gradually become finer.
The legs are red, and the cock bird has a very sharp
pair of spurs. Its range is very much that of the northern
red-necked pheasant, and farther north it merges into
other nearly allied species.

The crested francolin is found in thick bush or open
country usually near rivers and permanent water. It
is solitary in habit, and very wary and shy. When
disturbed it runs through the undergrowth at a great
pace, and when flushed flies low and fast, often rismg
with a bush between itself and the intruder, and seldom
giving a fair shot in the open. After its flight it usually
settles in a tree or bush, whence it once more shoots
away when followed up. Its food consists of insects,
seeds, and bulbs. I have seldom noticed it in the lands
near my residence on the hunt for grain, though it
abounds in the bush close by. A good many young
birds may be seen fairly strong on the wing in February,
but I have observed male and female still paired in April.
The young birds remain in small coveys with their
mother until not quite full grown, when they separate.
I found a nest of this species on 26th April. It was
situated amid long grass surrounded by dense bush,
close to a small dry sandspruit. The nest was merely
a shallow hollow scraped out by the bird herself, and
there were tnree eggs in it. The latter were tawny white,
in colour, covered, especially towards the thicker end,
with very small pits of less size than pin-heads. One
egg was more thickly spotted than the other two. They
were rather conical in shape, the length being 1.72,
breadth at thick end 1.34, at middle 1.43, and at thin
end .8 inches. This species, too, roosts in trees or
bushes.

20 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

The cock birds are often seen sitting in the middle of
a thick thorn bush, and their grating calls are continually
heard in the mornings and evenings.

Shelley's Francolin is about the best sporting bird of
the genus in the Transvaal low country. It favours
hghtly timbered and open country, and I have never
seen it in the thick bush. It is a handsome bird, with
white throat surrounded by a black line, a mottled
black and white breast, and yellow legs. It sits very
close, and is generally found in small coveys. It roosts
on the ground, and is a great insect eater.

The well-known Cape Redwing and Cape Partridge
are confined to the high country of south Africa, and both
'afford good sport.

The Coqui is the smallest of the genus. The crown of
the head is reddish and the sides of the face yellow,
which, with its size and its bright yellow legs, render it
easy to recognize. It is widely distributed and is found
in most of Africa south of the Equator. It is usually
met with in small coveys, in open bush country near
water. It is a ground rooster, and sits very close.
When flushed it flies well and strongly. This was one of
the very few species of francolin which I noticed between
I bo and Lake Nyasa.

As the coqui is the smallest, so Jackson's francolin
is much the largest of the genus. It is, in fact, nearly
as big as an English pheasant. I met with it in some
low scrub near the foot of the Laikipia plateau in British
East Africa. It is named after Mr. F. J. Jackson, C.B.,
C.M.G., the Lieutenant-Governor of that colony (now
Governor of Uganda), who discovered it.

All the above pheasants and francolins benefit the
farmer in that they prey largely upon the eggs and young
of locusts, as well as eating other insects.

GAME BIRDS 21

Quail. Three species of quail belong to south Africa ;
each is migratory in habit. The Cape Quail is a sub-
species of the European quail, and is that usually met
with by sportsmen in south Africa ; but the type common
to the Transvaal eastern bush country is the Harlequin
Quail. It appears and disappears with remarkable
suddenness, and rather irregularly ; but, generally
speaking, it arrives in the low country at the end of the
wet season — about April — and remains until August.
I have seen large numbers in April, after an exceptionally
wet season, when the grass was very long, and I have
noticed pairs in August. That the natives recognize
its departure towards the end of the winter as being
fairly regular is manifest from their current superstition
that a month or two before the rains the quails all turn
into rats. This belief is due to the fact that, towards
the close of the dry season, pickings of all kinds become
scarce in the veld, and so the quails migrate, and the
rats, seeking the comparative plenty of the villages,
swarm thereto in hosts.

Button Quail. Three species of Hemipodes, or button
quail, exist in south Africa. They are smaller than true
quail, solitary, and partially migratory in habit.

The Sandgrouse. Four species are described from
south Africa : the Yellow-Throated Sandgrouse, the
Spotted Sandgrouse, the Double-Bended Sandgrouse, and
the Namaqua Sandgrouse. Of these the double-banded
sandgrouse occurs in the bush country of the eastern
Transvaal. The crown of the head and the forehead
are white divided by a black band, and the upper parts
of the body black mottled with yellow.

The double-banded sandgrouse appears to be locally
migratory in habit. It prefers dry and often stony
surroundings, with plenty of sandy soil. In exceptionally

22 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

wet summers the birds disappear altogether from their
usual haunts, while, if there is only a small rainfall,
they remain throughout. For instance, during the
summer of 1906-7, which was very wet, I do not recollect
having noticed any, while in the following one, which
proved extremely dry, they were present all the time.
In 1908-9, again, little rain fell before Christmas, and
plenty of sandgrouse were seen, but they disappeared
as soon as the heavy rains began in January. After a
couple of weeks of dry weather in the middle of the rains
I have noticed their reappearance, so that I fancy they
do not remove farther than perhaps, the higher and drier
sand-ridges, where they are less likely, under ordinary
circumstances, to be encountered.

They are normally seen in pairs ; sometimes a con-
siderable number will be noticed feeding, or resting
in the heat of the day under trees, but when disturbed
they always break up into couples. In the gloaming,
between sunset and dark, they assemble at the drinking-
places in flocks, sometimes of hundreds. Scuttling
about on the sand, they utter their queer little crooning
song of seven notes, playing and chasing each other.
They remain as a rule but a few minutes, and then, as
night closes in, come speeding back with a whirr of wings,
and at a tremendous pace. In fact, whether when pro-
ceeding to, or departing from, the water, the speed at
which they travel, coupled with the uncertain light,
makes this form of shooting one of the most difficult
possible. When flushed by day the pairs get up very
suddenly and quietly, and fly fast, with a rather zigzag
flight.

I found a nest in the country north of the Sabi on
April 30. It was merely a little depression scraped in
the dust, and absolutely in the open ; there was no

GAME BIRDS 23

lining to it of any kind. It contained two eggs covered
with brownish blotches ; they were an exact oval in
form and measured 1.55 by i.i inches. On August 26
I saw a young one just able to fly.

Three species of snipe are found in south Africa : one
purely South African, one a European migrant, while
the third (the Painted Snipe) resembles, in habits and
appearance, a rail rather than a snipe.

Water-Fowl

Many parts of Africa are extraordinarily rich in water-
loving birds, and I shall never forget my first glimpse
of the Zambezi near Lealui, where the enormous swamps
collect millions of wild-fowl of all families and species;
and form a real paradise for the sportsman. Geese,
ducks, teal and widgeon, pochards and shovellers, ibises,
herons, flamingos, and all the host of lesser water-
fowl, here find a home. The ear is filled and confused
by their varied cries, and of an evening and morning their
long " flights " may be seen streaming in every direction
from and to their various feeding-grounds. Great is
the contrast to this scene of life and activity which meets
the eye of the traveller amid the dismal sudd swamps of
the upper Nile. Here, on every side stretches a scene
of weary solitude — a wilderness of reeds and feathery
papyrus, unvaried by a sign of visible life, excepting an
occasional solitary and meditative shovel-bill, which,
hermit-like, finds content in the lonely uniformity of
his surroundings.

The largest and one of the best known of African
geese is the Spur- Wing, which extends right through
the Ethiopian region, from the White Nile southwards.
It has a sharp spur springing from the bone of the wing,
and is often met with in considerable flocks. It is very

24 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

shy and wary. The flesh of the old males is tough,
leathery, and strong tasting. It has an occasional
habit of perching on trees, a custom which it shares with
some other species of African water-fowl. The Egyptian
Goose is another very widely spread bird, ranging through
the greater part of Africa. In south and south-central
Africa it usually occurs in pairs.

The Knob-Billed Duck is very common on the Upper
Zambezi, and is elsewhere distributed through most of
Africa. The curious knob on the bill from which it
derives its name is present in the males only. I have
seen these ducks perching upon quite high trees. They
are seen in the eastern Transvaal, like others of their
order, only as occasional migrants ; but immediately
to the east of the Lebombo Hills, in Portuguese East
Africa, they may often be noticed on the numerous small
lakes and pans which exist there.

Other species common to south Africa are the Dwarf
Goose, the YeUow-Billed Duck, the Black Duck, the
Red-Billed Teal, the Cape Widgeon, the Hottentot
Teal, the Maccoa Duck, the White-Backed Duck, the
south African Pochard, the European Shoveller, the
Cape Shoveller, the White-Faced Duck, the Whisthng
Duck, and the south African Sheldrake.

Of the above, the south African Pochard, sometimes
known as the " diver," is partially migratory in habit
in south Africa, though north of the Zambezi it is met
with in large flocks all the year round. As its familiar
name implies, it seeks its food by diving entirely under
the water, remaining sometimes beneath the surface
for a considerable time, and swimming with only its
head and neck protruding.

SPUK-WINGED GEESE

26 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

CHAPTER IV

BIRDS OF PREY : EAGLES, KITES. THE SECRETARY

BIRD

The birds of prey, of which Africa contains its full
share, are divided into two orders, the first containing
the eagles and hawks, the vultures, the osprey, and the
secretary bird, while the second comprises the owls.

It is a great mistake to regard all birds of prey as
hostile to man, and therefore to destroy them whenever
and wherever found. Besides the vultures, which are
recognized as useful scavengers, and are therefore pro-
tected in South Africa, many other kinds deserve to
be spared, not only on account of their scavenging
habits, but for the immense amount of destruction
they wreak among snakes, rats, and other noxious
creatures.

Some years ago a writer in one of the agricultural
journals advocated that all eagles and hawks should
be shot at sight, and suggested that a good opportunity
offered when they were seen indulging their rather
favourite habit of perching on telegraph wires. Putting
aside the probable injury to the wire, I cannot conceive
any more ill-advised suggestion than to recommend the
general public, which cannot be expected to distinguish
the few harmful from the many useful species, to act
in this way. A saner advice would be to recommend
the killing of members of the predatory species of birds
only when found hanging round chicken runs, and gene-
rally near human habitations where they seem bent on
mischief, for, though there are ill-conditioned individuals
which have acquired bad habits in every species, that
is no reason why the great majority.^who are doing useful

BIRDS OF PREY 27

work away in the veld and forest, should be shot out
in their native haunts. An individual dog sometimes
acquires the habit of worrying sheep, and has therefore
to be destroyed, but we do not think it necessary to
decree a wholesale massacre of all the other dogs on that
account. The majority of people are, however, quite
callous and ignorant as regards the ways of wild creatures,
and do not take the trouble to ascertain whether many
of them are not among their best friends ; it is easier,
and more in accordance with accepted custom, to kill
them all at sight.

All the harriers, the bateleur, as well as the larger
eagles, are great snake eaters, and they, like owls of all
kinds, do tremendous work among the swarming rats
and mice. Even if some of them do take toll from the
game and smaller birds, it is not nearly so great as that
levied by the snakes and rats which they destroy, since
both the latter are dire foes to both eggs and nesthng
birds.

In fact, man ought to be very careful how he interferes
with the balance of Nature lest he find himself in the end
a sufferer by his own act. Here is an extract from the
year-book of the United States Department of Agriculture,
which deserves attention :

" The sooner farmers, ranchmen, horticulturists, and
nurserymen learn that the great majority of the birds
of prey are their friends, and deserve protection, and
that only four or five species are injurious, the sooner
will the depredations by noxious rodents and insects
diminish.

" In the more thickly settled portions of the country,
except at rare intervals, the goshawk, the duck-hawk,
and the great horned owl are so infrequent that years
may pass without an individual being seen. . . . The

28 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

important fact to bear in mind is that all hawks and
owls feed largely on noxious rodents and larger insects,
such as grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles, and from
their size and voracious appetites are important factors
in reducing the numbers of these pests, and keeping
them under control.

" There is a number of species of birds and mammals,
which although they do not strictly belong to the pre-
daceous groups, are nevertheless extensively predatory
in habit. Among the better known of these may be
mentioned rats, squirrels ravens, crows, jays, herons,
and gulls. With the exception of the house cat, the
rat probably kills more young chickens than any other
animal. In some places where this rodent has become
well entrenched owners have found it impossible profitably
to raise chickens. Rats have been known to kill newly
born lambs and pigs, and they frequently destroy the
young and eggs of wild birds. This is especially true
in suburban districts and on islands along the coast.
It is weU known that members of the heron family
feed to a great extent on fish and on other forms of
aquatic life, and consequently do not live far from
water.

" Two species, however, the great blue heron and the
bittern, depart at times from the family traits, and visit
hillsides, cultivated fields, and drier meadows in search
of ground squirrels and field mice which they greedily
devour. The herons, like other flesh-eating birds,
digest their food rapidly, and are disposed to gorge
themselves when opportunity offers. It is fair to assume
that at a low average, a pair of herons with four or five
young will consume a dozen or fifteen gophers daily.
The gulls and terns that Jive inland do effective service
by checking the inroads of injurious insects and mammals.

BIRDS OF PREY 29

Ravens, crows, and jays do effective work in destroying
pests. Occasionally, however, when they have increased
out of proportion to the food supply available, they
become troublesome by killing small chickens and by
destroying the eggs and nestlings of wild birds."

From the same source I quote an incident showing the
results of interfering with the balance of Nature.

" An extensive marsh bordering a lake in northern
New York formed the suitable home for numerous ducks,
rails, snapping turtles, frogs, and other aquatic life.
The turtles deposited their eggs in aburtdance in the
sand of the old beach. These delicacies attracted the
attention of the skunks of the neighbourhood, and their
nightly feasts so reduced the total output of eggs that
only a small proportion of the young survived to reach
the protective shelter of the marsh. As time went on
conditions changed. Skunk fur became fashionable, and
commanded a good price. The country boy, ever on the
alert for an opportunity to add to his pocket money,
sallied forth and captured the luckless fur-bearer wherever
found, so that within a comparatively short time the
skunks almost wholly disappeared. When this check
on their increase had been removed, the snapping turtles
hatched in great numbers and scrambled off in all directions
into the marsh. When their numbers had been properly
controlled by the destruction of a large proportion of
their eggs, their food supply was adequate, but when they
increased many-fold the supply proved insufficient.
Finally, through force of circumstances, the turtles
added ducklings to their fare until the few ducks that
refused to leave the marsh paid the penalty of their per-
sistency by rarely bringing to maturity more than one
or two young. It is not surprising that this gieat
aggregation of turtles, containing the essential of delicious

30 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

soup, should have attracted the attention of the agents
of the market-men and restaurant keepers.

" The final chapter — the readjustment of conditions —
may be briefly told : the marsh became a scene of great
activity, where men and boys caught the voracious
chelonians, and bags, boxes and barrels of them were
shipped away. There was also a depreciation in the
value of skunk skins, with a corresponding loss of interest
on the part of the trappers ; so the progeny of the sur-
viving skunks congregated at the old beach and devoured
the eggs of the turtles that had enjoyed a brief period
of prosperity. The broods of ducks now remained
unmolested and attracted other breeding birds, with the
result that the old marsh reverted to its original populous
condition."

In the above case man did accidentally readjust the
conditions, but, of course, this is not often the case.

The true eagles, and the nearly allied hawk eagles,
consist of the Black Eagle, the Tawny Eagle, the Martial
Hawk Eagle, the Crowned Hawk Eagle, the African
Hawk Eagle, the Booted Eagle, the Brown Eagle, and
the Crested Hawk Eagle. All these birds are feathered
down to the toes.

The martial hawk eagle is one of the handsomest
as well as the largest of the tribe found in Africa. Its
range includes the greater part of the Ethiopian region,
and though nowhere actually common, in any country
well stocked with its natural prey, one or a pair of these
grand birds may be often seen sailing high in the air,
its white breast gleaming in the sun.

They prey on game birds of all kinds, hares, lambs
and kids, duikers and steenbucks, and the newly born
young of larger antelopes if found unprotected, besides
iguanas, snakes, and tortoises. I shot one which was

BIRDS OF PREY 31

eating a large iguana, and I put another up from the
newly killed body of a big puff adder. Their method
of attacking snakes is that of other large birds of prey,
including the secretary bird : the reptile is held firmly
by the talons and torn by the beak, while the wing
is used as a shield against the poison fangs. Small
carnivora, up to the size of a half-grown serval, are also
attacked much in the same way as other mammals of
similar size.

If the animal is too big to seize and carry off summarily,
the eagle swoops down, imbeds his talons firmly in its
back, flaps his wings in its eyes, and pierces the back of
its skull with his beak. I have seen them stoop at
both guinea-fowls and francolins on the wing ; but,
as a rule, they capture their prey on the ground,
watching its movements from the shelter of a neigh-
bouring tree, and then pouncing on it with a sudden
rush. At Sabi Bridge the fowls suffered severely for a
long time from the depredations of two of these birds.
They would return again and again at irregular intervals
for a fresh victim, and so wary and alert were they that
it was for a long time impossible to get a shot at either
of them. I have seen one sweep from his ambush
among the dense foliage of a fig tree on the other side
of the river, three hundred yards away, straight as an
arrow upon some unsuspecting fowl, fight on the ground
close by it, and then capture it with a shuffling run,
instantly flying off again to safety, its prey clutched
tightly in its talons.

When brought wounded to the ground the martial
eagle fights fiercely for its life, and is extraordinarily
quick in striking with its talons, which it uses much as
a cat does her claws. I remember bringing one down
with a rifle bullet from the top of a pretty high tree.

32 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

It fell heavily with a broken wing ; but on several
" boys," accompanied by a greyhound, running to the
spot, it threw itself on its back, gave the dog a wound
in the throat with its beak, which narrowly missed the
large artery, and placed her hors de combat for the time
being, while one of the natives who followed barely
escaped a lightning stroke from the claws which would
certainly have laid bare the bone of his leg.

The nest is built in a tree, of rough sticks, and one
or two eggs are said to be laid in a clutch.

The wing measurements of an average bird taken
just after death, were sixty-nine inches from tip to tip,
and the weight ten pounds six ounces.

The tawny eagle is of a mottled brown colour above,
and tawny chestnut beneath, with yellow legs. It is a
relatively short -tailed bird, and so has a rather ' ' stumpy ' '
appearance. It is very fond of hilly country, and is often
found in the neighbourhood of isolated rocky outcrops.
It attacks all game birds and small mammals up to the
size of lambs. Unlike the martial eagle, which, when
able to do so, likes to carry its prey off to a tree to devour,
the tawny eagle seems generally to prefer making its
meal on the ground. It probably destroys a large
number of snakes, and I have several times noticed
individuals in the act of killing these reptiles. Now and
then no doubt the eagle is worsted in such encounters.
Ranger de Laporte reported having found one, which,
from its appearance, had obviously met its death from a
snake's fangs. I think all the larger birds of prey do
their part in snake killing and are amongst the most
dangerous enemies of these reptiles.

There are two species of harrier eagles in South Africa,
the Black-Breasted Harrier Eagle, and the Banded
Harriet Eagle ; both are large and powerful birds, the

BIRDS OF PREY 33

legs feathered less than half-way down, and they live
principally on frogs and reptiles. I found a night adder
and a young cobra in the stomach of one of the former.

The Bateleur Eagle is more akin, both in appearance
and habits, to the buzzards than to the eagles. It is
widely distributed in Africa, and is a bird easily recognized
on the wing by its very short tail and its manner of
flight, which consists in sailing along, with first one
wing, and then the other, elevated. The full-grown
bird is glossy black below, and rich chestnut above,
while the legs are coral red.

Contrary to the generally accepted idea, I do not
believe that the bateleur attacks either live mammals
or birds. Its food seems to consist of reptiles and
carrion. I have often noticed it coming down to kills
with the vultures, and it frequently gets there before
them, and picks the eyes from the carcase. Ranger
de Laporte observed one driving away several vultures ;
on going to the spot he found a five-foot python with
both its eyes picked out, presumably the work of the
bateleur. I kept one at Sabi Bridge for several months ;
it became quite tame, and ate any carrion given to it
greedily. In the same large cage were confined a number
of small birds, and during the whole time the bateleur
never attempted to do them any harm, nor did they
display any fear of it. When, however, as occasionally
happened, one or other of them died from natural causes,
it lost no time in eating the body. I found also that
while a live rat was disregarded, a dead one was taken
immediately. Of course, the actions of any creature
in captivity are not always criteria of what it will do
when in a wild state ; but, at all events, it is safe to say
that though many bateleurs come saihng over my station,
not one has ever attempted to touch the fowls, nor have

34 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

1 ever noticed them shepherding guinea-fowl or f rancolins
in the manner of the truly predatory birds.

One of the best known of the kites is the Yellow-Billed
Kite. These birds are partially migratory, arriving in
south Africa during September, and being seldom seen
after the middle of March. However, they go no farther
north than Mozambique, where I have seen them in
great numbers in July, and they were very numerous
at all the up-country Portuguese posts as far as Lake
Nyasa in August. They are great carrion eaters, and
also destroy large numbers of locusts and other insects.
They have the reputation of being confirmed foes of
young chickens, though I have not personally known
any of the large numbers present around Sabi Bridge
about the end of each year to sin in this respect. I
believe it to be a vice acquired by individuals, through
familiarity with man and his surroundings, and that the
killing of warm-blooded animals is not really natural to
the birds. Major Fraser says: "After seven years of
innocent life, the yellow-billed kites started on my
chickens ; I shot two with chicks in their claws ; none
have erred since, and so I take it that pair learned evil
ways elsewhere. ' ' They have a way of suddenly swooping
down, just grazing the ground, to carry off any piece
of meat or offal that may be lying thereon, and are always
extremely bold and careless of man's presence. In
November and December they are numerous along the
Sabi. Through January and February they are less and
less seen, and have entirely disappeared by the end of
March. I have seen pairs nesting in December near the
Sabi. The nests are large rough structures of sticks,
and are made in high trees.

The Black- Shouldered Kite is a handsome Httle bird,
easily distinguished by its habit of remaining poised in

MARABOU STORK

A PAIR OF FISH EAGLES

36 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

the air with flapping wings. It Hves principally on
small reptiles and insects.

The Sea Eagle frequents all the permanent rivers
and lakes of the Ethiopian region where fish are plentiful,
and its piercing cry is the constant indication of its
presence. It is a very handsome bird, of black, white,
and rich brown plumage. It perches on trees overlooking
the water, watching ceaselessly for some unwary fish
to approach the surface. Its victim perceived, the sea
eagle darts downwards with a swift rush, and, its body
just lightly grazing the water, into which its talons
are inserted, it grasps its prey and bears it off in triumph
to devour, amid raucous cries of triumph, in the high
branches of some bare tree. The nests are very large,
and are built usually in fairly inaccessible trees. Two
eggs are laid in a clutch.

The Lammergeyer is the southern form of the genus,
the other being an inhabitant of southern Europe and
northern India. It extends through most of the mountain
ranges of the Ethiopian region, and, though a killer of
live animals, belongs to the vulture, rather than the
eagle tribe. It is of very large size, spanning over five
feet across the wings. Its food consists mainly of
carrion and bones, but it also attacks lambs, the newly
born of wild animals and sickly sheep.

The Secretary Bird has had a good deal of romance
written round it on account of its snake-eating proclivities.
As a matter of fact, it attacks snakes and other reptiles
no more and no less than the other large birds of prey,
and does as much harm to the young of game birds and
hares. It is generally seen stalking solemnly along in
pairs or singly, on the look-out for food, and when dis-
turbed it makes off at a fast run, the long legs covering
the ground at a great pace ; the wings are stretched out.

BIRDS OF PREY 37

but are seldom used for flight, and then only for a short
distance. When resting, the secretary bird likes to lie
on the ground with its long legs stretched out to one side
of it.

Other birds of prey include, in south Africa, five species
of harriers and a rather rare harrier hawk, six goshawks,
two buzzard eagles, five sparrow hawks, three buzzards,
two perns, five falcons, two hobbies, six kestrels, osprey,
lanner, and vulturine sea eagle.

CHAPTER V

BIRDS QF PREY : VULTURES

Seven species of vultures are indigenous to South
Africa, and the majority are, either themselves, or in
closely allied forms, spread over most of the Ethiopian
region. Probably there is no other bird whose appearance
on the wing and on the ground offers more vivid contrast.
Sailing majestically far up in the blue, without perceptible
movement of its great pinions, it seems to cleave the
air free of all conscious effort and conveys to the earth-
dweller far below the ideal of poetic motion. When
seen on mother earth it is hard to realize that this ungainly,
clumsily hopping, and repellent-looking bird, is the same
that so dehghted our senses when on the wing ; nor is
the picture in any sense restored, as, disturbed at its
feast, it flaps heavily away to some adjacent tree.

The habits of these birds have formed the theme of fre-
quent description. They remain on the roost later in the
mornings than others of their feathered kin, and though
the falcon tribe are usually not early on the wing, the vul-
tures are still more tardy in setting about their day's work.
When the sun has fully dispelled the morning mists, and

38 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

the air becomes clear, they leave the leafless bough which
has been their night lodging and circle far up, until,
from being a mere speck in the sky, they are finally lost
to the view of the naked eye altogether. They are
solitary in their watch for food, and each bird floats
about quartering his own patch of the heavens, until his
amazingly keen sight indicates to him the presence of a
dead animal, when he sweeps straight down in a long
inclined plane. Seeing him drop, his nearest companions
on right and left follow suit, and the signal is taken up
until every vulture for many miles around is gathered
to the feast.

The old theory that vultures hunted by scent, which
found a staunch supporter in an eminent naturalist
of the middle of the past century, has been discredited
by later observation, and it is now universally held that
it is their keen sight alone which tells them the whereabouts
of their food. I think no one who has seen vultures drop
in scores from extreme altitudes within a few minutes of
an animal having been killed, can doubt this for a moment.
After two occasions on which I had happened to shoot
crocodiles basking on sandbanks, stone dead with the
first shot, so that they lay in perfectly natural positions,
I took the trouble to visit the carcasses every day,in order
to see what the vultures did On one occasion it was a
week, and on the other five days, before any birds came
near ; though as many minutes would barely have
elapsed in the case of a mammal lying obviously dead in
the bush ere they put in an appearance. A dead animal
well covered up with branches is also quite safe from
vultures ; and the leopard, in placing his kill up a tree,
probably has these birds, as well as four-footed scavengers,
in mind.

It is doubtful how far, if at all, any birds are served

BIRDS OF PREY 39

by their sense of smell. I have again and again noticed
that francolins and knorhaan will feed quite close up to
leeward of a man so long as he remains quite still ; and
in stalking guinea-fowl it is quite unnecessary to bother
about the direction of the wind, provided they neither
hear nor see you. Though the gathering of vultures
is nearly always the sure indication of a dead animal,
the number assembling is no guide to the size of the
carcass. I have seen at least fifty follow a leader down
to a half-consumed hare or snake, while there is no doubt
that even their acute vision is sometimes deceived, as
was evident fom a number of them being attracted
by a red blanket lying on the ground near one of my
camps.

Should the carnivore responsible for the act be lying
up by and guarding his kill, the vultures will be noticed
sitting thickly on the trees around, gazing fixedly in the
direction of the carcass ; but they generally flap away
on the approach of a human being, thus giving the alarm.
When engaged at a carcass, they fight amongst them-
selves and make a good deal of noise. It is astonishing
with what rapidity they can consume even quite a large
beast, and of a creature of the size of a dog nothing is left
in a few minutes except the bigger bones, the lesser ones
being swallowed whole. They will eat any carrion,
except the remains of one of their own species, and
though they must often have to spend long periods
fasting, they make up for their enforced abstinence
by the voracity of their appetites when the opportunity
arrives to satisfy them.

Vultures seem to hang permanently about the vicinity
of some of the large villages of central Africa, roosting
on the trees close by at night and spending the day
hopping and waddling about among the garbage heaps,

40 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

thus leading a luxurious and untroubled existence. I
kept a tame one of the common southern species for some
months. It was quite peaceable and well disposed to
the dogs, fowls, and other animals which came near its
perch, to which it was tethered by a light leg chain,
and was quite docile and apparently contented in
captivity from the first. It was originally caught
through its own greed, being found with its head so
firmly fixed in a carcass that it could not withdraw it.

The Griffon Vulture is the common " aasvogel " of
south Africa, and is, in the sub-continent, by far the
commonest of the family. It is there found at kills
mixed with, but in much greater numbers than, the
other species. It constructs a large rough nest in a
high tree or rocky kranz, and in the eastern Transvaal I
have seen pairs building in February. One egg only
appears to be laid.

The White-Headed Vulture. These birds are not
uncommon in the eastern Transvaal, and they have
been on several occasions accidentally caught in traps
or shot by guns set over kills. I have seen them at
carcasses in company with the griffon.

The Black Vulture is easily recognized by its dark
colour, large size, and red head and neck. It is seldom
seen otherwise than singly, or at most two or three
together. Whether perching on trees or feeding at
carcasses, these birds always seem to keep apart from
other vultures, and they are very much more difficult
to get near than most species.

Ruppell's Vulture and the White-Backed Vulture are
smaller species than the above.

The Egyptian Vulture is nowhere numerous in the
eastern Transvaal, though it becomes rather more so
towards the north. I have generally noticed it singly

BIRDS OF PREY 41

or in pairs. North of the Zambezi it is very much more
often seen. It is easily to be distinguished from the
surrounding vultures of other species by its slender head
and beak and the lanceolate * feathers on the back of
the head and neck.

The Hooded Vulture. This bird has a head and beak
shaped like the last ; but there are no long feathers on
the back of the former, which is of a dark flesh colour.
It is of relatively small size.

CHAPTER VI

BIRDS OF PREY : OWLS

There are thirteen species of owls described from south
of the Zambezi. It will be sufficient here to mention
one or two of the larger types. The majority prey on
insects, such as scorpions and locusts, also on small
lizards, rats, and mice. Some, such as the little Scops
Owls, appear to be insectivorous only.

The Giant Eagle Owl is much the largest of the tribe.
It is of dark brownish-grey colour mottled with white,
and has prominent ear tufts. It is distributed through
most of the Ethiopian region. It is, like the other
members of its family, strictly nocturnal, sleeping in
the daytime amid the foliage of some leafy tree, usually
crouching, its breast supported on a branch, in preference
to perching in an upright position. At night it sallies
forth to attack birds from the size of guinea-fowls, and
mammals from the size of hares downwards. It is a
confirmed robber of the poultry yard, and will force its
way night after night into badly constructed fowl-houses
until it has cleared out the roost.

* Shaped like the head of a lance or spear.

44 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

It makes a peculiar clucking sound when angry, much
resembling the cracking of a hard nut, which it repeats
many times. By night it utters a deep hoot, but has also
another cry, which I have heard it make in the early
morning from its tree ; this is a very shrill and penetrating
whistle or screech, which can be heard a long way off.

I once found a young bird, nearly full grown, but still
unable to fly, hidden away in the fork of a large tree
about eight feet from the ground. About dusk its mother
arrived, and I brought her down with a charge of shot
apparently dead. She was carried into camp by the
legs, and thrown into a corner to be skinned in the
morning. When morning came she had disappeared,
and after a long search was discovered under a bush
about fifty yards away. She was still to all appearance
dead, and during the march that day was carried in a
basket on a " boy's " back, quite limp and motionless.
That night she again disappeared and was found under
the same conditions as before. I now began to suspect
that she was not quite so severely injured as I had believed,
and could in fact discover no damage except to one of the
wings. The following night some raw meat left beside
her had vanished, and two days after arrival at my station
she abandoned her artifice, ate everything that was
given to her, and, like her offspring, soon became very
tame. Both these birds have been in the Zoological
Gardens at Pretoria for the last four years. I never
knew an animal sham dead longer and more naturally.

As a set-off to the damage which they do to small
game, there is no doubt that these owls also eat con-
siderable numbers of locusts and other insects and
reptiles, including snakes. A large one will measure
some three feet across the wings, and their bodies are
broad and bulky.

44 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

The Spotted Eagle Owl is another large owl, though
less in size than the last. It is very much mottled with
dark brown, yellow, and white, and has prominent ear
tufts. It is spread through most of Atrica south of the
Equator. It preys on small mammals — such as rats and
mice — reptiles, and insects. I have never known this
species to attack domestic poultry.

Many African tribes are intensely superstitious about
owls, and the birds calling near the villages, or perching
on the huts at night, are believed to presage disaster.
Crossed sticks are occasionally placed on the apex of a
hut to ward off the threatened evil.

CHAPTER VII

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS— I

The present work cannot aspire to give any description
or account of the habits of any but a very few of the
species which make up the swarming bird life of south
Africa. Some idea of their numbers may be formed by
a glance at the appendix. I propose therefore to touch
on a few only of the larger, brighter plumaged, or other-
wise more noticeable types, recommending for any real
study of the subject, one or other of the many volumes
specially directed to it.

In addition to the various sea birds, the game birds,
and the birds of prey, there are more than half a
dozen other orders of birds existing. Much the largest
of these contains the " perching birds " ; in fact, this
order comprises about half the existing number of species,
including of course nearly all the small types with which
we are familiar.

Nearly all, or at least a great majority, of the perching

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 45

birds are more or less insect-eaters, and as such ought to
be rigidly protected as being helpers of the farmer in
keeping down the various scourges which attack his
grain and fruit. Many birds, which themselves do a
great deal of damage in this way, more than make up
for it by eating vast numbers of insects which would
prove far more destructive than the birds, were the
latter not present to keep them in check. Birds possess
voracious appetites, and get through a truly astonishing
amount of food for their size. It does not take a small
bird long to consume more than his own weight in insects.
In fact if we had no feathered friends, it is difficult to
know how we should keep our insect enemies, with their
swarming grubs, in check at all.

The trade in the feathers of those birds, which, un-
luckily for themselves, have brilliant plumage, has already
done a vast amount of harm all over the world. Man
has suffered a good deal for his own folly, and would
suffer still more but that he has at last awakened to the
danger ; and so the plumage trade is now everywhere
being regulated, and in some countries even abolished.
It also happens that many of the birds which wear the
most attractive plumage are among the worst enemies
of the insects.

Dr. Hornaday, the well-known director of the New
York Zoological Park, has probably done more than any
other man to show up the iniquity of the total destruction
of wild life, particularly of bird life, and during the past
few years his efforts have been crowned with conspicuous
success, especially in the United States. His book,
" Our Vanishing Wild Life," should be read by everyone
who desires to gain some idea of the dangers which
threaten to exterminate wild life nearly all over the world
at the present time.

46 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

In the second chapter he writes as follows :

" For educated, civilized man to exterminate a valuable
wild species of living things is a crime. It is a crime
against his own children and posterity.

" No man has a right, either moral or legal, to destroy
or squander an inheritance of his children that he holds
for them in trust. And man, the wasteful and greedy
spendthrift that he is, has not created even the humblest
of the species of birds, mammals and fishes that adorn
and enrich the earth. ' The earth is The Lord's
and the fullness thereof ! ' With all his wisdom, man
has not placed here so much as a ground squirrel, a

sparrow, or a clam The wild things of the earth

are not ours to do with as we please. They have been
given us in trust, and we must account for them to the
generations which will come after us and audit our
accounts.

" But man, the shameless destroyer of Nature's gifts,
blithely and persistently destroys one species after another.
Fully 10 per cent, of the human race consists of people
who will lie, steal, throw rubbish in parks, and destroy
forests and wild life whenever and wherever they can do
so without being stopped by a policeman and a club.
These are hard words, but they are absolutely true. From
10 per cent, (or more) of the human race, the high moral
instinct which is honest without compulsion is absent.
The things that seemingly decent citizens — men posing
as gentlemen — will do to wild game when they secure
great chances of slaughter, are appalling. I could fill
a book with cases in point.

" To-day the women of England, Europe and else-
where are directly promoting the extermination of scores
of beautiful species of wild birds by the persistence with
which they buy and wear feather ornaments made of

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 47

their plumage. They are just as mean and cruel as
the truck driver who drives a horse with a sore shoulder
and beats him in the street. But they do it ! and appaals
to them to do otherwise they laugh to scorn, saying ' I
will wear what is fashionable when I please and where I
please ! ' "

Dr. Hornaday elsewhere in the same book quotes the
well-known bird tragedy of Laysan Island in the Pacific
Ocean. This is an isolated little island only two miles long
by a mile and half wide ; but until 1909 it was absolutely
teeming with all kinds of beautiful sea birds. In 1909 an
expedition was organized to exterminate all these birds
and send their feathers to Japan for sale and export. The
organizer of this raid was a European. For some months
he and his companions were uninterrupted, and managed
to tear off the wings of some three hundred thousand birds,
before a United States gunboat arrived and put a stop
to their energies. As a result the island was almost
stripped of bird life, and the neighbouring coasts of the
mainland missed their usual annual migrants which
used the island as a nesting-place.

The birds mentioned above were mainly albatrosses,
terns, petrels, shearwaters, boobies, and man-of-war birds.
In other parts of the world a savage warfare is waged
against many beautiful and useful song birds merely
for the sake of their feathers.

The various species of white egrets supply the plumes
known as " aigrettes " or " ospreys," and are therefore
hunted down and destroyed in vast numbers, though
they are harmless as well as beautiful birds.

From nearly all the rest of the feather trade, the ostrich
industry stands out as a bright exception. In the former,
the birds required are merely killed off wholesale
to supply the demand, without anything being done

48 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

artificially to replace the numbers destroyed. In the
latter, the ostriches are farmed and treated just like other
valuable domestic animals. Their plumes are carefully
clipped at the proper season with no discomfort whatever
to the bird, and the old stumps afterwards fall, or are
eased out. The ordinary process of moulting is in fact
merely assisted. Had ostrich farming not been taken
up half a century or so ago, there is no doubt that ostriches
would long ago have ceased to exist in South Africa, and
thus a great and profitable industry would not have
existed at the present day. Perhaps in the future the
farming of other plumage birds may be adopted on
similar successful arid humane lines, and thus both trade
and birds may benefit. At present it is very like a case
of " killing the goose that lays the golden eggs " or of a
man who, living on his capital, will wake up one morning
to find his last penny is gone.

The Crowned Lapwing, sometimes called the " scream-
ing plover " and familiarly known in South Africa as
Kiewitje, is a familiar figure almost everywhere in the
veld. Though sometimes shot, it can hardly be classed
as a game bird. It is about the size of an ordinary plover
with black and white plumage, and associates either in
pairs or in small flocks, according to the season of the
year. It is an extremely noisy bird, and is possessed of
a spirit of permanent unrest, which prompts it to fly
about uttering its loud and grating cry, often by night
as well as by day.

To the hunter the crowned lapwing is often a very
great nuisance. Should he be trying to approach game
quietly, a couple of these birds will very likely get up
close in front of him and fly away with loud cries of
warning and alarm ; but they will not, like well-regulated
birds^ then depart and leave him alone. On the con-

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 49

trary, they will go straight ahead for fifty or one hundred
yards, alight, and repeat the manoeuvre as soon as the
hunter again comes up to them. This sort of thing may
go on indefinitely, and needless to say every wild animal
within sight or hearing has its head up, looking and
listening to learn what the trouble is about. Apart from
their unmelodious call, and their lack of sympathy with
the sportsman, they are deserving birds, and great des-
troyers of grasshoppers and other insects.

The Snake Bird. This curious and solitary bird may
occasionally be seen by the margins of African rivers,
lakes, and pools, into the waters of which it dives in
pursuit of the fish which form its food. It has a curiously
long and flexible neck, which it can twist in all directions,
and which has conferred on it its English name. When
swimming, the head and neck alone protrude above the
surface and look at a distance exactly like a snake as
they undulate backwards and forwards with every stroke.
The bird can remain about five minutes under water, and
on emerging, often many yards away from where it dived
in, will stand motionless on the bank, or on a rock, with
wings spread out to dry, for half an hour or more. I
once watched one standing on the edge of a rock about
six inches above the surface of a deep pool. A fairly
large crocodile was floating about lazily near by. Most
of the time the snake bird seemed entirely immersed in
his own thoughts, but when the crocodile happened to
come quite close — within two or three feet — he would
utter a couple of hoarse " quacks " and twist his neck
round towards the reptile, though without shifting his
feet an inch. This went on for over an hour. It was
one of those cases which tend to indicate that wild
creatures know quite well when their natural enemies
are not to be feared.

50 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

The Crowned Crane is always a striking-looking
bird, with its slaty plumage, and its curious patch of
straw-coloured bristles on the head. The wattles on
the face seem to vary in colour in the different local
races in Africa ; those of the southern species are white,
bounded with bright red above.

The Green Ibis. Popularly known as the " hadada,"
this bird is found throughout the greater part of the
Ethiopian region. It frequents the vicinity of rivers,
and in the early morning and late afternoon its loud
and harsh cry, which its name not inaptly describes, is
a familiar sound, as in pairs or small flocks up to a dozen
or twenty in number the birds wing their way to and
from their feeding-grounds. They fly pretty high, rather
heavily, but at a pace which is deceptive. I have always
found them -extremely wary birds, which, when resting
in trees, seldom permit near approach, and usually alter
the course of their flight the instant they catch sight of
anything suspicious. Moreover, their course is usually
directed straight up or down the middle of the stream,
and they appear to leave it only at the point nearest
to their favourite feeding-ground. Their food consists
almost exclusively of insects, which they seek in every
kind of country, but in swampy land for choice. The
flesh is of dark colour and excellent eating.

CHAPTER VIII

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS— II

The Marabou Stork. This large and rather re-
pulsive-looking bird, with its almost naked pink head
and neck, huge and powerful beak, and scavenging habits,
is nevertheless possessed of the most beautifully soft.

GRIFFIN VULTURE

VULTURES AND MARABOUS ON A TREE

52 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

snow-white, downy feathers on its under tail covers.
It is common all over tropical Africa, but is much less
frequently met with south of the Zambezi. In parts
of east Africa, I have seen large flocks feeding about
much like white storks, and they will eat insects, fish,
and any small mammals or birds that are too young to
escape them. They are generally among the first to
arrive at kills, and may be seen sitting around on the trees
mixed up with the vultures, with which they can more
than hold their own. In the ponds in the Transvaal
Zoological Gardens, they appear to tyrannize absolutely
over the herons and other large water birds, which often
display considerable fear of them as they stalk solemnly
round making occasional vicious prods at any not quick
enough in clearing a path.

The Saddle Bill. This very large stork is rather
rare in south Africa, but I have once or twice noticed
pairs on the Sabi, about February, stalking about in the
shallows and on sand-banks. One old gentleman used
to come regularly to a certain pool every morning about
seven, and remain till twelve. During the whole of the
five hours, with only occasional short rests, he quartered
the whole shallow extent of muddy water systematically,
dabbing his bill in at every step. As he only caught
a small frog or some such creature about once in twenty
minutes, he had to work hard for his livelihood. Now
and then a female joined him, but she was much less
patient and would fly away after an hour or two. The
fore part of the Saddle Bill's beak is crimson, the centre
black, and the saddle or shield which comes just above
the nostrils bright yellow.

The White-Bellied Stork. This is an African bird,
though it only visits the south during the warm summer
months.

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 53

The Black Stork is also a summer visitor to South
Africa, but certainly in individual cases remains in the
south all the year round, as I have several times noticed
them in the Transvaal low country during the winter
months, always in pairs, and one was shot on the Olifants
River early in July, All storks, especially the well-
known European migrant, follow the locust swarms in
great numbers, and, in common with kites, starlings,
and many others, levy an enormous toll.

The Hammerhead. Most residents in Africa are
familiar with this queer, stolid-looking bird, with its
crested head and plain brown plumage. Although
measuring but little over twenty inches in length, it yet
builds a nest which might well be worthy of the largest
bird that flies. Mr. Haagner, in his " Sketches of South
African Bird Life," thus describes it : "It consists of
sticks and mud : first a saucer-shaped foundation, about
three feet in diameter, is built of large sticks thrown
together and cemented with mud. Upon this foundation
a circular dome-shaped structure is erected, contain-
ing a round chamber (sometimes two) ; it is a solid
structure, with a round entrance hole just large enough
to admit the bird. The top is often decorated with old
tins, rags, bits of plank, and we have even found dead
birds, and old bits of skin. It may measure four feet by
three and a half, and is sufficiently strong to bear easily
the weight of a heavy man." These nests are, of course,
more or less permanent structures, constantly used by
the same pair of birds.

Herons. There are fifteen species of herons and
bitterns described from south Africa ; amongst them,
and extending through most of Africa, is the splendid
Gohath Heron, which is the largest of its tribe in the
world.

54 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

Egrets, These birds, of which four species are found
in south Africa, belong to the same family as the herons ;
they are ail distinguished by their snowy white plumage
and carry, when in " full dress," long ornamental plumes
on their heads and shoulders. Three of the species haunt
pools and marshes, feeding on frogs, small fishes, and
shell fish, wading about and catching their prey in shallow
water. The fourth kind is known as the cattle egret,
and is found all over south Africa. It is the constant
companion, either in pairs or in small flocks, of the herds
of cattle, and relieves the beasts of the ticks which infest
them. The cattle egret is therefore rightly classed
among the most useful of the local birds, and is protected
by law.

Pigeons. The fruit, or as they are usually termed
green pigeons, are brightly clad in green and yellow
plumage, with their legs and part of their bills of a bright
red colour. They are usually seen through the open
forest country in small flocks, and fly swiftly from tree
to tree when disturbed. They feed on wild berries and
fruits.

Doves. These pretty and confiding little birds exist
in many species all over Africa. In the south much the
most common is the Cape Turtle Dove, which swarms
about the poultry yards and old gardens picking up
grain, and shortly before sundown may be seen flighting
in immense numbers, and at a great pace, to and from
the water.

The little Namaqua Dove appears to be a winter
migrant to the eastern Transvaal low country. At any
rate, during two summers, when I was specially on the
alert for it, it did not put in an appearance at Sabi Bridge
at all, though plenty were to be seen by May. In 191 1
I saw one pair in December. In Portuguese Nyasaland

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 55

in August it was not met with until an altitude of 1800
feet was attained, at about 300 miles from the coast.
It was then numerous.

Parrots. There are in south Africa four kinds of
parrots, and three kinds of parakeets or love-birds. The
parrot found in the eastern Transvaal is the brown
headed type. It carries bright green and yellow plumage,
and is of small size (only some nine inches long). These
birds go about in moderate flocks and are very swift fliers.
On the wing they utter noisy and harsh screams ; they
are very handsome little birds, but sadly destructive to
crops of grain, and are nearly always to be noticed some-
where in the neighbourhood of native villages.

The Grey Lourie. In south-central Africa between
latitudes 15° and 25° there is no more familiar bush
sound than the long-drawn " Go away " of the grey
lourie.

I did not n'btice it in Portuguese Nyasaland, but in
Angola, at about the same latitude, it is quite common.
It is a bird of short flight and rather lethargic habits.
During the warm hours of the day, it sits, usually alone,
in some well canopied tree, at intervals uttering its
distinctive and rather querulous call. At certain seasons
of the year, grey louries seem to collect in small com-
panies, and are then very noisy. The crest is alternately
raised and depressed while the bird is calling. It is
popularly supposed to warn the game of the hunter's
presence and there is no doubt that animals become
disturbed when they hear it ; but it will sit for hours
saying " Go away " at frequent intervals, whether human
beings are near or not, and I do not beheve the cry to be
invariably a signal of alarm. The flesh is quite good
eating, what there is of it. Another familiar bush sound
is the note of the Coucals or bush Cuckoos, of which there

56 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

are several species. This is a frequently repeated
" Coo-coo-coo, coo, coo, coo," gradually dying away into
a minor key. These birds are non-parasitic in their
nesting habits.

The Honey-Guides are among the most interesting
birds in Africa. Their habits of guiding the ratel, as well
as human beings, to bees' nests was first described by
Sparrman in the early part of the last century ; but so
remarkable is the reasoning power displayed in all their
actions, as described by writers who have observed them
since that time, that even at the present day many
newcomers to Africa remain incredulous until they have
witnessed the performance for themselves. I have always
been as much impressed by the bird's wonderful per-
tinacity as by its intelligence. It not only asks, but
insists, that you shall follow it, and will pursue you
doggedly for miles in the opposite direction from that in
which it desires you to go, uttering an incessant grating
twittering. Although when following it to a nest natives
always whistle and croon to it — a custom perhaps
originally imitated from the ratel — I have seldom noticed
it to require encouragement, and its disappointment and
anger are perfectly obvious should you turn and go off
in another direction.

When trying to get up to game, the attendance of a
honey-guide is one of the most annoying things imagi-
nable ; all animals, whether ungulate or carnivorous,
appear instantly to recognize that its call is indicative
of human presence and at once become on the alert.
On such occasions, stones hurled at it appear for the
moment, but not permanently, to discourage it ; it no
doubt feels that, given a few minutes to reflect, you are
certain to repent of your folly in trying to drive it away,
and so decides to give you another chance. It is inter-

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS

57

esting to speculate how these curious customs of bird,
and beast, and man, may have found their origin in
the dim recesses of the past.

The various species of honey-guides are parasitic in
that they, Hke the cuckoo, deposit their eggs in the nests
by built other birds. The fledgelings are provided with

GROUND HORNBILL

Sabi Gixme Reserve. Photo

hooks on their mandibles, which they perhaps use to
turn the young of their foster-parents out of their
nursery.

Sitting quietly in the bush you will seldom fail to hear
the " tap, tap " of the woodpecker, as he hops at all
angles up and down the trunk of some insect-infested
, tree. Entirely an insect-eater, he is consequently a deadly
foe to that form of life. A very tame one used to make
a habit of visiting my veranda for the purpose of picking

58 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

the borers and grubs out of the old wood of the poles.
We possess about a dozen different kinds of woodpeckers
in south Africa.

The bright plumaged Rollers are always most con-
spicuous birds in the African bush. They are bold and
confiding, and great consumers of locusts, grasshoppers,
caterpillars, and other insects. The handsomest is the
Lilac-Breasted Roller, with its bright blue wing covers,
and g5n:ating flight. The European Roller is a summer
migrant to south Africa, and is during that season ex-
tremely numerous in the eastern Transvaal, occasionally
nesting there.

The Ground Hornbill. These big birds, with their
black and white plumage, scarlet wattles, and huge bills,
are nearly always met with sooner or later by the traveller,
feeding in open patches in the forest, in flocks of from
six to about twenty, during the cool hours of the day.
Their deep and melodious call of " hoo — hoo, hoo, hoo —
hoo, hoo," always heard when they are in the vicinity,
is usually most frequent in the very early morning.*
When disturbed they go away with a ponderous flight,
often for a considerable distance, though they never
rise far from the ground. At the end of their flight
they sometimes perch in trees. They will eat
almost anything : snakes, tortoises, small mammals,
nestling birds, eggs, grubs and caterpillars are all
delicacies.

Although not timid birds they are extremely wary.
In captivity they become marvellously tame and show
extraordinary intelligence, understanding very much as
a dog does, what is said to them. I knew a tame one
which would lie down shamming dead, jump up again

* The female seems to say, " Do take care, dp take care ; " and
the male answers at once, an octave lower, " All-right-Mary."

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS .59

on its master's word, and by many other indications
show that it could grasp his meaning. They are most
useful birds in a garden, demolishing all insect pests ;
but cannot be restrained from immolating little fluffy
chickens, which they transfix with their great beaks,
toss into the air, and catch neatly in their open mouths.
All day they scarcely cease for a moment from uttering a
low, monotonous throaty sound, which is quite different
from their far-reaching " hoo, hoo."

There are many other hornbills of several genera, all
of which live among the trees. In the eastern Transvaal,
the commonest is the Yellow-Billed Hornbill, which has
a very easily distinguished call of " tocky tock, tocky
tocky tock," rather like the sound of bubbling water.
The female makes her nest in a hollow tree, the entrance
to which is sealed up by the male, which afterwards
conveys to her her daily food through a little hole left
for that purpose. The nest is lined with feathers from
the breast of the hen, which moults while sitting, and
disposes thus of her cast plumage.

CHAPTER IX

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS— III

Kingfishers. South Africa is rich in kingfishers, of »
which some ten different kinds are met with. There is
one large species — the giant kingfisher — which attains
a total length of nearly eighteen inches. Most kingfishers
are brightly plumaged and active little birds, fond of
sitting on a branch by the water side, and suddenly
darting down into the water at any small fishes
which imprudently approach the surface : there are
several species, however, which seem to live a good

6o. ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

deal away from the water, and are said to prey chiefly
on insects.

I think the most fascinating of all to watch at his work
is the handsome little "pied kingfisher," This bird, in
its neat black and white uniform, may be seen poised
perhaps twenty feet or more above some pool, the body
held stationary, the wings beating rapidly up and down,
while the head and tail are both bent downwards almost
at right angles to the body. Suddenly it sees a fish near
the surface. At once the wings close, and down goes
the bird headlong straight to the spot. A resounding
splash, and it is lost to sight, to emerge in a few seconds
triumphant, its finny prey wriggling in its beak, or un-
successful but undaunted. When hovering above the
water the position is often changed by a quick dart to
one side or the other, and the expectant pose resumed.

A kingfisher may often be noticed sitting on a branch
holding his newly caught prey in his beak. If you watch
him, you will see him regarding it with reflective air, and
then raising his head he will bring the unfortunate victim
with a resounding thwack against the branch on which
he is sitting. He will repeat this action several times
with a pause for consideration between each, and when
he concludes that it is sufficiently dead not to make any
trouble while on its way down his throat, he proceeds
• to swallow it whole.

Rollers and other insect -eating birds frequently deal
with their prey in the same manner.

The Carmine-Throated Bee-Eater may be mentioned,
as it is one of the most brilliantly plumaged birds in
south Africa, in its garb of green, crimson, pink, black,
and bright blue. Bee-eaters can be recognized by the
elongation of the two central tail feathers.

The Little Bee-Eater is rather sociable in habit.

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS . 6i

Small flocks will be noticed perched on twigs or branches,
usually by the water side, whence one or other will from
time to time dart swiftly on some passing insect, bearing
his prey in triumph back to his perch. Though not such
conspicuous birds either in size or colouring as their
Carmine-throated cousin, the Little Bee-Eaters look very
showy in a plumage which contains besides the pre-
dominant green, black, yellow, orange, and blue.

Nightjars, as their name implies, are " birds of dark-
ness," and so are more often heard than seen. They
may however usually be noticed, just as dusk is merging
into night, flitting rapidly about on the hunt for the
insects which form their food. Some species spend the
day lying flat on the ground, usually among stones and
rocks, and so close do they lie, and so nearly do they
match the colour of their background, that it is possible
nearly to tread upon them before noticing them. When
thus disturbed they usually dart away for a few yards
and again settle as before. The call is a long chirring
or grinding sound.

The South African Hoopoe is a bird that will generally
be seen once or twice in a walk through the bush ; you
will probably see it perched among the branches of some
tree, its conspicuous pale red and black tipped crest
alternately spread like an upright fan, and lowered. Its
call sounds something like its name.

The remainder of the birds here mentioned all belong
to the Order of Perchers.

Swallows. Of these several species are wholly, or
partially migrant, while other are resident throughout
the year. The Wire-tailed Swallow and the smaller
Stripe-breasted Swallow both nest in the eastern Trans-
vaal. The former builds a shallow cup of a nest, con-
structed of round pellets of mud of about a quarter-inch

62 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

diameter, under the eaves of buildings or rocks, A pair
were building under the deck-house of a Nyasa steamer
in August, and on the boat leaving Fort Johnston —
where she had been lying for some time — accompanied
her throughout her voyage up the lake and back. Another
pair built under the eaves of my bungalow at Sabi Bridge
in February. On April ii, the three young ones were
just big enough to look over the edge of the nest. On
the 2ist, one disappeared, and on the following day a
second one was able to go for a short flight. The third
was taken from the nest by a grass snake on the 23rd.
For the next few days the parents were busy teaching
their remaining offspring to fly ; they all slept in the
nest at night, and the young one often returned by itself
during the day to rest.

The Smaller Stripe-breasted Swallows build a very neat
mud nest with a long funnel as entrance to it, the inside
lined with grass and feathers. A pair occupied the same
nest for two successive years under my veranda, bringing
out three young ones on the first occasion, about the end
of February. About the same time the following year
(1908) some accident must have befallen the mother bird,
since I found three young ones, nearly ready to fly, dead
in the nest.

European swallows, which are present in great numbers
all the summer at Sabi Bridge, always roost at night in
the reeds on islands in the middle of the river, doubtless
for greater safety. They congregate at sundown about
the cattle pens, where they are accustomed to hawk flies
and mosquitoes, and then all together fly off to their
night quarters. During a severe storm in April, when
both the European and the larger stripe-breasted swallow
(an African migrant) were collecting previous to de-
parture, it was noticeable that while the former sought

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 63

shelter under the eaves and in the window-ledges of the
house, the latter weathered the storm, thickly clustering
in the branches of a tree, their backs to the rain.

Ravens and Crows. The ravens are represented by
the* White-Necked Raven in the south, and another and
larger kind in the north and the east of the Ethiopian
region. The former is not present in the low country
of the eastern Transvaal, except as a very occasional
visitor ; but it exists in considerable numbers in Portu-
guese Nyasaland both in low-lying forest and in hilly
country. It is usually seen singly or in pairs.

The Pied Crow is found all over the continent of
Africa, south of the northern tropic, and swarms round
most of the villages of the interior on the look-out for
scraps and refuse. Like the raven, it frees both cattle
and game from ticks. Although found in the neigh-
bourhood of Barberton, no great distance away, this bird
is scarcely ever seen in the low country of the north-east
Transvaal, and I think has only twice been noticed near
Sabi Bridge in nine years. On the first occasion a single
one came and took a small chicken, and on the second
a pair were observed. It associates in couples, and
probably the large assemblies sometimes seen round
tempting feeding-grounds are merely the collection of
numbers of such couples.

The African Rook is rather irregularly distributed
through Africa. Its habits are not unlike those of the
European rook.

The Ox Pickers. These curious birds live almost
entirely on the insect parasites which they pick from
the hides of the larger mammals, both wild and tame.
They are often known as "rhinoceros birds," from
being the constant companions of that pachyderm, which
they serve not only by ridding him of ticks, but by

64 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

warning him of the approach of danger. They of course
do the same for any other animals, and are among the
difficulties every bush hunter has to contend with.
When alarmed, they generally fly up into the surrounding
trees, uttering a continuous husky chatter. I have
foujid that their procedure when with tame animals
differs from that adopted when with game, for, seated
in rows on the back of an ox, they do not appear to pay
the least attention to the approach of a human being,
whereas in the bush they will fly off the antelopes or
buffalo, when one is still some distance off.

Although they are certainly of benefit to cattle, and
make no more impression on their hides than they do
on these of the wild ruminants, it is otherwise with
donkeys, to which they do as much harm as good. Not
content with picking off the ticks, they proceed to enlarge
the little abrasion which the insect leaves behind it, until
at last a yawning cavity, streaming with blood, is formed.
The least gall or chafe on the withers, or elsewhere, is
at once attacked and enlarged, the birds appearing
to enjoy consuming the living flesh and blood. Not the
least remarkable point is that the donkeys habitually
take no notice whatever of the birds, however much they
suffer, and make not the smallest effort to get rid of
them, being in this way quite different from horses, which,
will not endure their presence for a moment. Therefore,
to keep donkeys in good condition where tick birds
abound, requires the most constant watchfulness. In
fact, at Sabi Bridge it has always been necessary to
employ a small boy, whose sole duty consists in scaring
them from the donkeys while at grass.

These starlings can cling to an animal's body at any
angle ; on the sides, between the legs, even under the
body, and their temporary host, thoroughly under-

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS

65

NEST OF MASKED WEAVER BIRD

standing what their business is, usually helps them all
it can. The birds are able not only to hang on during
any movement of the animal, but they can also jump
and climb about with marvellous ease. In fact,. they can
hop forwards, sideways, or backwards with equal readiness,

NEST OF SOCIAL WEAVER FINCH

66 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

and to attain a lower level simply let themselves drop
straight down, the strongly recurved claws gripping the
coat at the desired spot.

The species met with in the Sabi-Olifants district of
the north-eastern Transvaal is the Red-Billed, and in my
experience it is equally, if not even more addicted to
digging holes in donkeys than its yellow-billed cousin.

Weaver Birds. These interesting little birds are
closely allied to the finches. Many of the species are
very brightly coloured, and most are social in habit,
building colonies of cunningly woven nests, which are
suspended from reeds or branches.

The Masked Weaver Bird builds every year in great
numbers near the Sabi. About October, their neat
kidney-shaped nests may be seen swinging in hundreds,
and in all stages of construction, from the ends of
reeds and willowy branches, while the busy owners, in
their handsome yellow and black uniforms, flit to and
fro with much cheerful chirping and chattering. They
are dreadful little pests to growing grain. If the nests
should be destroyed the birds will build new ones
and lay again, up to two or three times. The eggs
are of several different colours, some pale blue, some
spotted, others nearly pure white, and they also vary
in size.

The young seem all to be fledged by the beginning of
March, and I have known them to leave the nests at
least a month earlier.

The Buffalo Weaver bird is a large dark-coloured bird
which builds a big rough nest in which several pairs of birds
have lodgings of one compartment each. These nests are
often built in trees in the midst of a colony of masked
weaver birds. The whole community must have rather
an anxious time occasionally, as several snakes, notably

MISCELLANEOUS BIRDS 67

coral snakes, frequently seem to take up their quarters
in the same tree and live on the nestling birds.

The Sociable Finch congregates in flocks up to several
hundreds. These flocks construct in common one huge
nest divided inta numbers of self-contained compart-
ments, one for each family of birds. The nests are added
to year by year, and attain the size of large hayricks,
besides being very solid and heavy. This species does
not seem to be recorded beyond the limits of south
Africa.

Sun-Birds. The charming little honey suckers rank
among the most fascinating of the smaller birds. The
plumage of the males is usually brilliant and has a bright
metallic gloss which adds to its beauty. As they flit
to and fro they may be seen sucking the juices from
flowers and plants and dabbing at insects with their long
jcurved bills. Most of the species have bodies only some
five inches long.

They are the humming birds of south Africa.

PART II
REPTILES

CHAPTER X
CROCODILES

The reptile class includes the crocodiles, turtles, tortoises,
lizards, and snakes. The members of the various orders
agree generally in the low temperature of their blood,
and in the outer layer of skin taking the protective form
of bony plates or scales. Reptiles belong to an earlier
period of the world's history than either mammals or
birds, and, with simpler organs than either, their
nervous systems and intelligence are also of a lower
grade.

The Egyptian Crocodile. This is the common
crocodile of tropical Africa. Its range now extends from
the upper Nile, through the rivers and lakes of central
Africa, to the Tugela in the south-east. It formerly
occurred a good deal north and south of these limits ; but
at the present day is certainly rare outside of them. It
seems never to have existed in the streams draining the
south and south-west districts of south Africa outside
the tropics. Probably the cool atmosphere of the high
southern tableland and of the south coast barred its
progress from the east, while the dry countries of the
south-west may have offered an impediment upon that
side of the continent. It is essentially a lover of tepid
tropical waters, and, extended on a sand-bank or rock,

68

CROCODILES 69

delights to warm its chilly blood under the full blaze of
the midday sun. Within its range it exists in practically
every large stream, and in nearly every tributary and
lake. Sometimes large individuals lie at the bottom of the
most insignificant pools, wholly or partially buried in
mud, and in such cases their presence would be betrayed
only by the spoor on the margin.

The size which crocodiles are ultimately capable of
attaining is uncertain. During the first three or four
years the rate of growth is fast, perhaps more than a foot
a year. As the animal gets older it grows more and more
slowly ; but when, if ever, it entirely ceases to increase
in length and bulk is quite unknown. That they live to
a very great age is probable. In most carnivorous
animals a limit is put to pursuit of prey, and hence to
life itself, by the wearing down of teeth and claws, which
occurs long before the failure of bodily strength has
rendered the individual unable to earn its livelihood.
With the crocodile it is otherwise. Each of his for-
midable pointed teeth is merely a shell, and under it,
when removed, will be found a new tooth, growing up
to replace the old one when discarded. There seems no
limit to this replacement of teeth ; possibly it ceases only
when the vital forces have weakened from extreme old
age. Where a creature so sluggish and low-graded is
concerned, these forces are subject to much less wear and
tear than among warm-blooded animals, and therefore
the period of bodily activity may be much more pro-
longed. Still, the size attained by crocodiles is no doubt
often exaggerated, and measurements form the only true
tests.

An enormous brute which used to haunt a certain pool
in the Sabi was stated to be as bulky as a hippo, and, from
one or two glimpses I got of him, I judged him to be not less

70 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

than eighteen feet long. Eventually I succeeded in shooting
and landing him, and the measurements proved him just
half an inch under fourteen feet, with a girth of six feet
seven inches at the shoulders. The majority of large
crocodiles killed and measured in the Game Reserves
have averaged about twelve feet over all. In more
tropical rivers they may attain a larger size. I shot one
in the Lujenda river, and another in the Nile, near the
head of Lake Albert, which I believed at the time to be
longer and bulkier than any I had ever seen in the south ;
but I was unable to recover either, and appearances are
proverbially deceptive.

These reptiles are extraordinarily tough and tenacious
of life, and, unless killed stone dead, almost invariably
manage to slip into the water, when, if not wounded in
a vital spot, they probably ultimately recover. Being
capable of going for long periods without any food,
temporary inability to hunt no doubt inconveniences
them in only a minor degree. A shot in the brain is, of
course, immediately fatal ; but in a crocodile that organ
is of such small dimensions that very accurate mark-
manship and some knowledge of anatomy are requisite.
It may be, however, the only possible target, as, for
instance, when the reptile is floating with merely his head
above water. Aim should be taken a little behind the
eye, when he is side on ; while, should he be facing you,
a bullet just between the two eyes may at least lay bare
the brain, and so prove fatal. When a crocodile, lying
at full length on land, presents a side shot, it is generally
best to fire right at the middle of the shoulder ; this will
very likely pierce the heart, and if it does not, it will at
least so cripple and paralyse the animal that time will
be afforded for a second attempt. I have killed^a great
many crocodiles in this way which never moved after

CROCODILES 71

having received the bullet. A shot in the lungs, or one
which cuts through the valves of the nostrils, or injures
the air passages, is also quite deadly ; for the animal is
then "unable to remain under water, and will reappear
on the surface within a few seconds. I have known
crocodiles wounded in some such way climb right out of
the water on to sand-banks they had just vacated, and so
offer themselves easy targets.

I remember one, shot in the lungs, make three or four
successive rushes to land, dashing back again into the
water each time he received a fresh bullet. Another, shot
and left for dead on a sand-bank, had disappeared, when,
ten minutes later, I returned with some natives to skin
him. After a long search we found him about a hundred
yards down stream, lying in water some three feet deep.
He was unwilling to move, and absolutely refused to
show his head above the surface, so, after a consultation
the natives volunteered to go in and spear him. At the
first thrust he dashed off down stream, through the
shallow water, and a most exciting chase ensued. Luckily
for us there were no deep pools for some distance, and
the natives kept heading him off up stream. He made
no attempt to turn upon, or, indeed, to do anything
except try to escape from his pursuers. It was marvel-
lous with what speed, in spite of a severe wound from an
expanding bullet, he dashed about through the shallows ;
but eventually he was done to death, and proved to be
about eleven feet long. I killed another which had three
large spherical bullets embedded in different parts of
its body. From the manner in which the tissues had
grown up round them, I judged they had been there for
a good many years, and there was not the smallest sign
of any local disturbance consequent on their presence.
There was also in the body a Lee-Metford bullet.

72 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

probably fired by myself about five months before.
This had entered near the root of the tail — of course,
missing the backbone — and had more or less raked
the animal, without, seemingly, causing him much
inconvenience.

In 1902, a native brought in some half-dozen newly
hatched crocodiles. They were only a few inches long,
and I kept them for some time in a bucketful of water,
feeding them on various insects. Their habits were
precisely those of their elders. As they lay floating on
the top of the water, a blue-bottle fly would be dropped
within an inch of the nose of one of them. For the space
of perhaps half an hour the little reptile would lie like
a log, apparently quite unconscious of anything at all.
Then, without warning, he would make a lightning dart,
and the fly would disappear. A little later, I sent them
to the Zoo at Pretoria, where they were all reported to
have died within a few weeks of arrival, and to have been
thrown away on to a rubbish heap. Time passed and the
incident was forgotten ; but a few years later it was
noticed that young waterfowl in one of the large ponds
in the gardens occasionally disappeared in a mysterious
manner. One morning, when this sort of thing had been
going on for a considerable time, a native attendant
came rushing up from the place, exclaiming excitedly
that " there was a schelm in the water." Investigation
subsequently disclosed the presence of a crocodile
nearly four feet long, which, without doubt, was one
of the youngsters thrown away for dead three years
previously.

It is very difficult to catch a crocodile in even the
largest gin-trap. I have often set these things over baits
close to the water's edge ; but the reptile almost always
springs the trap without injury to himself, and after-

CROCODILES 73

wards composedly removes the bait. A native snare —
the noose made of wire cable, and all the adjuncts formed
of very strong material — ^has sometimes been successful.
On a single occasion we succeeded in poisoning a crocodile
at Sabi Bridge, but its custom of stowing its prey away
until putrid usually causes the poison to be carried by
the water.* They are sometimes shot by trap guns ; but
I never knew one to be killed outright by this method,
and it is difficult to say whether an animal which has
escaped into the water is mortally hit or not.

I once loaded an old lo-bore musket with a double
charge of powder and a handful of shrapnel bullets, and
set it over a dead wild dog placed close to the brink of
a deep pool. During the night we heard an explosion
as of a small cannon, and in the morning it was found
that a large crocodile had set the gun off. The latter
had been set very low across the line of approach, with
a view to hitting the creature in the shoulder, and, there
being no marks of shot among the thick bushes facing
the muzzle, it was pretty clear that the charge had gone
home at a distance of not much over six inches. In
spite of this, the crocodile had been able to slip off the
bank into deep water, and no traces of him were ever
again seen.

Crocodiles can remain under water for a considerable
time at a stretch : I do not believe that it is known for
certain how long ; but their powers undoubtedly greatly
exceed those of warm-blooded animals in this respect.
If suspicious of danger, or for other reasons desirous of
escaping detection, they have a way of protruding just
the tips of their nostrils, under the shelter of bushes
overhanging the bank, taking a fresh breath and at once

* With more experience of this method we have since suc-
ceeded in poisoning a great many crocodiles with strychnine.

74 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

sinking. It is, under these circumstances, almost im-
possible to distinguish them. Their bodies float about
forty-eight hours after death.*

Through the hot hours of the day crocodiles like to
bask in the sun, especially during the winter months,
when the water is cold, and the sand-banks and rocks
are exposed. In the cool of the afternoon they slip off
into the water to seek their prey. Though it is never
safe to trust to their habits, they are, generally speaking,
most active and dangerous from about two hours before
sunset until the same time after sunrise. In the hot
weather, when the water is warm, they spend much more
time in that element, and its discoloration after rain
renders the stalking of prey of all kinds easier. The bad
reputation of the lower Pongola in Zululand is due quite
as much to its permanently murky nature as to the
number of crocodiles present.

Crocodiles are capable of going for long periods without
food. The stomachs of many, perhaps of most, when
opened, contain only a few handfuls of smooth, worn
pebbles, swallowed to assist digestion. All kinds of
remarkable things are sometimes found, such as bracelets,
rings, teeth and claws of large carnivora, and so on. I
once found ten inches of an impala horn, the thin end
having been gradually worn away and digested by the
action of the powerful gastric juices. The crocodile's
tongue is incomplete, the muscle which corresponds to
the organ being tied fast throughout to the lower jaw.
The food is bolted whole, there being no means for proper
mastication, and, no doubt for this reason, is invariably
eaten as high as possible. A crocodile at the Transvaal
Zoological Gardens refused all fresh meat, and, in fact,
ate nothing for over a month ; but as soon as his food
* Earlier in hot weather.

CROCODILES 75

was offered to him in a decomposed condition, he
devoured it greedily.

Fish provide the greater proportion of the crocodile's
diet, and their scales are found in the opened stomachs
more often than animal matter of any other kind. From
a high rock overlooking a clear pool in the Zambezi I
once watched a crocodile at work. He lay like a log in
the water, perfectly rigid and immovable, until his
chance came in the near approach of some heedless fish,
when one lightning rush placed the prey within his jaws.
During the rainy season, when the tributaries are full of
water, the fish generally go some way up them to spawn,
and subsequently, as they begin to run dry, the small fry
come down to the great rivers in thousands.

At the junction of a stream known as the Mutshidaka
with the Sabi there is a sand bar, beyond which the water
of the latter river is rather deep. I once, during the
month of March, watched two crocodiles, a large and a
small one, reaping a rich harvest at this point. The
shallows of the Mutshidaka, above the sand bar, were
swarming with little fish of all kinds, mostly only a few
inches long, which were continually being carried down
into the Sabi. The crocodiles lay with their bodies in
the deep water, and their lower jaws resting on the sand-
bar in about six inches of water. Their mouths were
wide open, and as the shoals swam backwards and for-
wards they were sucked in wholesale. Every now and
then the larger reptile, which, of course, occupied the
best place, would make a dash at its companion, and drive
it a little farther away ; while the latter after retiring for
a time, would gradually begin to edge up again towards
the special preserve. The lower jaws of crocodiles, unlike
those of mammals, are stationary, and it is the ilpper
ones which move up and down. It is thus that their

76 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

owners are enabled to lie quite flat upon rocks or sand
by the water's edge, with their mouths wide open.

In addition to fish, mammals of all descriptions and
sizes when in or at the edge of the water are liable to be
seized. A favourite method of the crocodile is to lie
immersed close to a drinking-place either at the brink
of the main stream, or of some adjoining pool. Scent,
sight, and hearing are all very acute : the moment
anything is heard approaching, two eyes, barely showing
above the surface, are cautiously protruded. They
quietly disappear, and their owner, completely concealed,
floats a little nearer. Arrived within striking distance,
he waits until his intended victim's head is lowered to
drink, when, with a swift rush, he seizes the nose or leg.
Having once got their hold, the formidable jaws never
relax. However desperately the victim struggles, the
advantage which the crocodile derives from the purchase
of his feet against the bottom, and his long and powerful
tail, is seldom to be disputed successfully, and the water
quickly closes over the tragedy. Since the reptile chooses
his own ground, the combat must, in the nature of things,
always be an unequal one, and though some very large
and powerful mammal might conceivably be able to pull
a small or medium-sized crocodile out of the water, it is
doubtful if it would ultimately escape from the bulldog
grip and cold-blooded tenacity of its enemy.

CHAPTER XI

ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES

Of course, the crocodile only attacks such animals as
it considers itself able to overcome, relative to its and
their individual size. Probably the only two species

ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES ;7

which are quite immune are the hippopotamus and the
elephant. The rhinoceros might, perhaps, have been con-
sidered large enough to escape attack ; but in " African
Nature Notes " Mr. Selous relates how one was pulled
down and drowned by crocodiles in the Tana, an incident
actually witnessed by an American sportsman, Mr,
Fleischmann, who was able to take photographs of the
incident. Should an animal be on the bank, close to,
but not actually in the water, it may be overbalanced
and knocked in by a deft blow from the crocodile's tail,
I have known both white men and natives to have very
narrow escapes in this way, and it is, in fact, never safe
to stand less than three feet from the water if there is
any likelihood of a crocodile's presence and you are un-
attended. This is specially applicable to fishing in deep
and discoloared pools.

Having drowned his victim, the crocodile next pro-
ceeds to dispose of it. Having a deep-rooted objection
to fresh meat, he selects some convenient ledge or cavity
below water-level, where his food may be stowed until
sufficiently ripe to satisfy his taste. The banks of most
African rivers are undercut by the current in many places,
thereby providing convenient storehouses, at or near
the entrance to which the saurian mounts guard. A
story has been related of a native who, having been
seized by a crocodile and half drowned, returned to
consciousness, to find himself in a cavern under the bank,
but just above the water-line. Immediately above his
head the earth had fallen in, and there was a hole through
which daylight was visible. Collecting all his energies,
he sprang for this, and scrambling out safely, though in
dire fear of pursuit, arrived at his village, somewhat
the worse for the adventure. Here he found
further difficulties confronting him, his relatives

78 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

running away and refusing to believe that he was not a
ghost !

Terrible as are the jaws of the crocodile, he does not
use them to mangle and tear in pieces live prey, but only
to hold it fast ; therefore the less the resistance offered
the less is the resulting injury from the teeth. I have
often found antelopes drowned under the river bank,
apparently quite uninjured, until examination brought to
light the tell-tale punctures about the nose. The wounds
made by a crocodile's teeth are not poisonous, and animals
which have been bitten and managed to get free soon
recover.

A little boy, fetching water from a pool on the Sabi,
was seized and pulled in. The men of the village turned
out, and, wading waist deep in the water along the edge
of the bordering reeds, felt with their spears until the
body was discovered pushed into a crevice of the bank ;
it was very little bitten. In face of several persons
together, especially if they are making a noise, a crocodile
will usually, though not always, sheer off.

The number of natives who, throughout Africa,
annually fall victims to these sinister brutes must be
enormous. Within even the small area which comes
within my own personal knowledge two or three cases
occurred every summer, before the majority of the big
crocodiles had been killed off by the rangers. There is a
drift on the Usutu River in Swaziland, which used to be
haunted by one or more very dangerous crocodiles.
During the late South African War a number of men
belonging to an irregular corps stationed in the vicinity
were accustomed to bathe at the spot, and one young
fellow was given to amuse himself when in the water by
alarming his companions with a sudden shout of " Look
out — croc ! " One day this man was sitting on a rock,

8o ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

dangling his toes in the water, when he suddenly screamed
out " Croc's got me ! " and disappeared. Thinking that
it was but a repetition of the well-worn jest, the others
merely laughed at what they thought was an unusually
realistic piece of acting, when, to their horror, they caught
sight of his arm protruding from the water some way
down stream. With great promptness and pluck, two
men sprang in, swam to the spot, and actually succeeded
in bringing their companion ashore out of the very jaws
of the monster, which was, perhaps, scared away by shots
fired from the bank. The man was already dead, how-
ever.

Not long afterwards, two native messengers had
occasion to cross at the same point, the stream being
in partial flood, and the water more than waist deep.
Both had rifles, and it was agreed that they should cross
separately, each, from the bank, covering, with his rifle,
the other as he crossed. The first had not got half-way
over when he was pulled under, and the precautions taken
proved vain, for his friend's rifle spoke to no purpose.

A rather pathetic case occurred years ago on the
Zambezi. A number of native women were washing
clothes, when one of them was seized by a crocodile,
which, swimming to a small sandspit, some oneh undred
yards from the bank, landed her there, fainting, but alive.
The other women, though they talked excitedly, made
no attempt to run for help, or take any other active step.
As it happened, a young half-caste Portuguese came along
at the moment, and, grasping the situation, at once
jumped into a canoe, and paddled to where the woman
was l5nng. He had actually covered more than half
the distance, when the watchful brute, concealed in the
water close by, seized its prey again and disappeared
with her for the last time.

ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES 8i

No doubt the dispositions of crocodiles vary much in
different rivers and lakes, and the seizing of men and
other large mammals appears largely a matter of acquired
habit. At Shesheke, on the Zambezi, a paramount chief,
who lived some forty years ago, used to derive great
amusement from watching slaves and criminals being
thrown to the crocodiles, his chair being brought to the
river's bank in the cool of the afternoon that he might
enjoy the spectacle in comfort. The crocodiles at this
place never forgot those halcyon days, and, until very
recently, it was almost certain death for any one to drink
at the river, or attempt to draw water, except within
one of the protecting screens of logs which were erected
for the purpose. Strange natives, unwarned of the
danger, were constantly falling victims, as were dogs
and other domestic animals. I believe that of late years
shooting by white men has greatly reduced the number
of crocodiles, and therefore the danger. On the other
hand, there are some large pans in Amatongaland, which,
although full of the reptiles, are said to be quite safe to
bathe in, attacks on human beings being unknown.

Notwithstanding that there are few large villages,
situate on the banks of the greater African rivers, whereof
at least one member of the community does not bear on
his person some sign of a hairbreadth escape from the
jaws of a crocodile, it is remarkable how callous natives
are in regard to danger from this source. They usually
exhibit a much livelier fear of lions, though the actual
toll taken by these animals must be the merest fraction
of that levied by crocodiles. It may be due to a certain
lack of imaginative faculty ; the principle that a peril
which can neither be seen nor heard must be less pressing
than one of which the senses give notice. Whatever
the reason, it is undoubtedly most difficult to prevent

82 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

one's own followers from taking risks in infested streams,
and a kind of fatalism seems to render them incapable
of learning caution from the loss of a companion, except
perhaps for a time, and at the particular place.

One morning I was standing on the banks of the
Lujenda River in Portuguese East Africa, watching, with
my friend Mr. Maugham, our stores crossing. We had
just come to the conclusion that what we had fancied
was the protruding nose of a crocodile, was, in fact, only
a piece of rock, when a local native who was standing
near said, "If you will come with me to the village I can
show you a big crocodile." Mr. Maugham electing to
stay and superintend the porters cross the river, I went
alone with the " boy." The village in question lay but
some 300 yards distant and proved to be of considerable
size, and full of people, who, at the moment, were in a
state of pleasurable and noisy excitement over the
arrival of our large caravan. " But surely there can be
no crocodile here, with all that noise going on," I re-
marked. " Oh yes," nonchalantly replied the guide,
" he lives here, and does not mind the people." Sure
enough, on reaching the bank, the first thing I saw was
a huge crocodile basking at full length, and with his mouth
wide open, on a rock not more than twenty yards away.
He was not in the least disturbed by the chattering of
the women and children, and there was no question of
stalking him. It was only necessary to sit leisurely
down on the bank and put a bullet through his shoulder,
when, after shutting and opening his mouth a few times,
he fell off the rock and sank like a stone. The headman
was quite pleased, saying that the animal took some one,
usually a woman or child, at least once a month. " Why,
then," I said in astonishment, having noticed that about
every second man seemed to be provided with a firearm

ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES 83

of some sort, " did you not shoot it ? " " Ah well, we
have very little powder, and it is very expensive, and we
are poor and require all we have to kiU game," was the
surprising, though characteristic answer. It is sometimes
difficult for a European even to begin to understand the
workings of the African mind.

Although a large crocodile, having found a suitable
pool well stocked with fish, often remains therein, if not
permanently, at least for a considerable period, never-
theless during the rainy season especially, much changing
of quarters goes on, and the fact that a pool has been
untenanted through one dry season is no criterion that
it will be so at the beginning of the following one. When
a large crocodile is killed in a pool which he has kept as
his own special preserve, it is seldom long before another
one, of perhaps slightly smaller size, arrives to take his
place. During a heavy flood of the Sabi, I saw a large
crocodile being carried down in mid stream at the rate
of some five miles an hour. His tail serving him as a
rudder, he was keeping his head straight down stream,
and making no effort to steer towards the bank. It
looked as if he was taking advantage of the flood to effect
an easy change of residence.

By night these reptiles often travel great distances
overland, but daylight invariably finds them safe in their
natural element. At a distance from the latter they are
timid, and make for it on the first alarm. I have heard
but one reliable story of any disposition to aggressiveness
when far away from water, and this may have been
due to fear rather than ferocity. A white man was
walking along a footpath by night, preceded by a native
boy of some twelve years old, when in the darkness the
latter stumbled over a crocodile which was apparently
moving along the path in the opposite direction. It

84 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

immediately seized the boy by the leg ; but on the white
man, who was not carrying a gun, beating it with a stick,
it let go and made off. When quite close to a river or
pool, however, much greater confidence is displayed,
I have heard of a native, sleeping on a hot night in the
doorway of a hut close to the river, being attacked and
dragged in. Healy was riding along the bank of the Sabi
one afternoon, when his dog chased a monkey into the
reeds ; a moment later there was a yelp followed by a
splash, and that was the last he heard of his companion,
which probably had run into a crocodile lying close to
the water's edge.

It is certain that when lions happened to have killed
anything on the bank, a large crocodile will sometimes
come ashore at night and take it away from them. Such
a one came out of the water and drove away five lions
from the carcass of a waterbuck they had killed on the
banks of the Olifants River. The lions had apparently
given way without showing any fight at all, merely
running about and probably growling while the crocodile
dragged the carcass into the water. Well protected
above by his scaly armour, he is vulnerable to teeth and
claws, however powerful, underneath only, while as an
offensive weapon his flail-like tail forms a useful adjunct
to his terrible jaws. I have heard one reliable instance
of a crocodile having been killed in such an encounter
with lions, but several of the latter were said to have been
responsible. Of course, when caught actually at the
water's edge a lion stands no more chance than any other
animal.

Though always cunning and suspicious, the crocodile at
times evinces considerable audacity in the pursuit of his
prey. Natives are occasionally knocked off the gunwales
of their canoes by a flick from the tail, or a blow from the

ADVENTURES WITH CROCODILES 85

snout against the side. I recollect Major Gibbons standing
upright in the stern of our little aluminium steam launch
on the Zambezi, with the tiller between his feet, nearly-
losing his balance through an attack of the latter kind.
One day I disturbed a crocodile which had been basking
on a slab of rock by the side of a pool. He of course
immediately dived, and my two terriers coming up pro-
ceeded to drink at the spot, which was about three yards
on the left of where I was standing. Presently to my
surprise, I saw the crocodile returning. He was plainly
visible in the clear water, floating gently about a foot
below the surface, and making straight for the dogs.
When about equidistant from myself and them, he
cautiously raised his head, no doubt to measure his
distance, and without anticipating the bullet which
ended his career. Although he must have seen me plainly,
this animal did not take the slightest notice of my
presence.

Crocodiles are as partial to dogs in Africa as they are
said to be elsewhere ; and in the Game Reserves we have
lost many faithful friends through these brutes during
the past eight or nine years. They are generally taken
when in the act of drinking, but not infrequently also
when swimming across either on their own account or
following their masters. The least taint of blood in the
water seems to attract crocodiles instantly, and antelopes,
which, pursued by wild dogs, reach the river after having
been injured, are nearly certain to escape one danger
only to fall into another.

Crocodiles are characterized by a strong musky smell,
which often betrays their present or late vicinity. I was
once standing on a stone in the middle of the Sabi fishing.
Close by was a deep pool ; but the water was clear, and
since two large crocodiles had been successively shot in

86 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

it, it had apparently remained tenantless. By and by,
however, I became conscious that there was a very strong
smell of musk in the air, and, though unable to see any-
thing the least suspicious looking, I did not quite like
the situation, and made the best of my way to the bank.
Next day I shot a ten-foot crocodile on the stone on
which I had stood, and no doubt he must have vacated
it on my arrival the day before, leaving his strong odour
clmging to it.

Females crocodiles lay clutches of several dozen eggs
once a year, so far as is known. The eggs are about
the size of a goose's, white in colour, and equal at both
ends. I have found various numbers, from twenty to
fifty, in one nest. They are buried in the sand some-
where close to the water's edge, and the sun's rays are
made responsible for the hatching. The depth at which
they are buried is variable, occasionally as much as
eighteen inches, but ordinarily a good deal less. Eggs
have generally been found from the beginning of Novem-
ber up to about the middle of December in the eastern
Transvaal. Any laid later would run considerable risk
of being washed away by the floods which occur in the
early part of the year.

The female is usually not far away while the eggs are
hatching ; but once the young are in the water it is
probable that she takes no further notice of them, unless
it be as articles of diet. No doubt the youngsters on first
being launched upon life find the world a hard one. Not
only are birds of prey, tiger fish, and otters on the look
out for them, but they must also go in considerable dread
of the larger members of their own species. It is doubtful
if more than one per cent, of each hatching survives to
an age when they can not only defy their enemies, but
prey upon most of them in turn.

LIZARDS AND TORTOISES 87

When angry, crocodiles hiss Hke most other reptiles.
At other times they utter a low throaty noise, which is
seldom heard unless a night has to be spent close to
some of their favourite haunts, such as the reed-bordered
and swampy margin of some great lake or river.

CHAPTER XII

LIZARDS AND TORTOISES

There are two large lizards found in south Africa.
These are popularly described as " iguanas," though the
true iguanas are almost all confined to the new world.

The larger of the two, known locally as the water
iguana, is found in reeds and rocks close to the water's
edge and, when disturbed, always seeks refuge in that
element. Though a strong swimmer and diver, it is
much less aquatic in habit than the crocodile, and ap-
parently leaves dry land only to seek safety or food.
I have seen skins of these lizards which measured, when
dry and shrivelled, over six feet long, but in the low
country of the Transvaal it is very seldom that individuals
measaring more than four feet are met with. The tail
is very long and tapering, and the body colours black,
yellow, and dark green. The teeth are slightly recurved,
not very long, but solid and sharp. The tongue is forked.

When alarmed, the water iguana rushes swftly towards
the stream or pool, which is always close by, crashes
through the reeds and leaps into the water with a re-
sounding splash. It is thus often mistaken for a young
crocodile. Its food consists of fish, frogs, crabs, eggs,
and the young of birds and small mammals. It is not
a climber in the true sense of the word, but can [scramble
up sloping trunks in pursuit of prey. It is a dangerous

88 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

enemy to the poultry yard, stealing the eggs and carrying
off the young chickens, I have never personally seen a
case of a full-grown fowl being taken, but I have no doubt
that a large iguana could accomplish this feat without
much difficulty. Its raids take place equally by day
and night, and extend to a distance of several hundred
yards from the water.

In 1906 I lost the greater part of a clutch of twelve
small chickens, which were carried off one by one in the
course of a couple of days. On a hot afternoon I was
sitting in my bungalow, when a great cackling arose from
the veranda where a hen was tending some chicks.
Rushing out, I saw an iguana about three feet long in
the act of making off with one of them in its mouth, and
ignoring the hen which was fluttering about in great
excitement and pecking at the intruder. My fox terrier,
which accompanied me, disposed of the latter with a
few vigorous shakes, meeting with no resistance
whatever.

These reptiles lay eggs, which are buried in the ground
or sand, but at a considerably greater depth than is
usual with those of a crocodile. I have seen quite little
ones about the end of October, in the eastern Transvaal.
To its credit must be placed the fact that this lizard eats
the eggs of crocodiles and of snakes as readily as it does
those of birds.

The tree iguana is very much smaller than the last
type. Individuals encountered in the Sabi Bush rarely
reach three feet in length. The body colours are fainter
than those of the former species, and the tail is short and
thick in comparison with that of the latter. The teeth,
though no doubt adequate for procuring the natural
food of the animal, are of practically no account for
purposes of defence. This lizard is found in forest and

90 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

bush, and among rocks, often far from water. When
alarmed, it either takes refuge in a tree, or in some hole
or cranny of the rocks. It is a very nimble climber, but
its pace on the ground is slow — a kind of shuffling run.
Though when brought to bay it makes a great demon-
stration, hissing loudly and darting its long forked tongue
in and out of its widely opened mouth, while saliva flows
freely from its jaws, it seems to have no real capacity
for resistance. None of the many I have seen killed by
dogs made any attempt either to bite or to spit. I have
heard natives say that the saliva is poisonous, but never
noticed anything to confirm this.

The tree iguana lives on insects of various kinds, birds'
and snakes' eggs, the young of the former, possibly the
newly born of some of the small mammals, and carrion.
I caught one in a cage trap baited with a dead mouse
which, however, he had not eaten. He subsequently
refused all food while in captivity for a long time. These
lizards attack young chickens nearly, if not quite, as
determinedly as their cousins of the last described species,
and fowls act in the presence of both much as they do
when threatened by a snake.

Besides the large types mentioned above, South Africa
contains a large number of different types of small
lizards, and chameleons. Many of these lizards are
beautifully coloured and marked, and they are of all
sizes, from only a few inches, to over a foot in length.
Lizards feed mainly on flies and other insects, and do a
great deal of good. It should be borne in mind that all
known south African lizards are perfectly harmless to
man, and they should never be wantonly killed. It is
extraordinary, however, with what suspicion many tribes
of east coast natives regard them. Nothing will shake
their con\nction that one and all can and will bite.

LIZARDS AND TORTOISES 91

and I have often been warned, almost implored, not to
handle even the innocent chameleon !

The latter little creature, with its big goggle eyes, which
seem to move on pivots, is quite the domestic animal.
Put it on the leaves of a good big plant where plenty of
flies come to settle, and it seldom displays much ambition
to change its quarters. It merely adapts its colour to
its background, and sits still. Perhaps presently a fly
settles near by, but just out of reach. First one of the
big goggle eyes swings slowly round and focusses on the
insect. After a pause for consideration, the chameleon
takes one very slow and cautious step in the direction
of its destined prey. Another pause, and then with a
lightning swiftness quite out of keeping with what we
have previously noted about the animal, out and back
darts the long sticky tongue ; the fly has simply vanished.
The chameleon slowly and contentedly champs his jaws
for a moment or two, and then resumes his expectant
pose. Patience personified.

Tortoises. South Africa possesses several species of
tortoises, of which the leopard tortoise is the largest,
attaining a maximum length of between two and three
feet. It is relished by many tribes as food. This is a
land species. There are two water types. One of these
is able to close up the front openings of its shell when
head and limbs have been drawn in. The water tor-
toises have a disagreeable odour, and are less edible than
the land types. In the heat of the day they may be seen
swimming about in the pools, their snake-like heads
occasionally appearing above the surface for air. They
reach a length of about twenty inches.

92 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

CHAPTER XIII

SNAKES : THE PYTHON

There are some ninety species of snakes known in Africa
south of the Zambezi, of which about twenty-five are
poisonous. Many of the forms are, of course, identical
with, or only slightly variant from those found in other
parts of the continent.

Snakes are all alike in having no eyelids, the place of
the latter being taken by a transparent scale, on the
same principle as a watch-glass ; and they all change their
skins periodically, in full-grown specimens, generally
about once a year. They will habitually eat only prey
which they have killed themselves.

There does not seem to be much foundation fui the
popular belief regarding snakes " fascinating " their
prey before striking it. I have seen a number of birds
fluttering about and screaming close to a mamba, cobra,
or other snake in a tree. On these occasions the birds
were, however, undoubtedly trying to frighten it away.
In their excitement on such occasions — and birds are
very excitable animals — one or another dashes in a bit
too close and suffers accordingly. In a confined space
a solitary unfortunate bird, feeling he cannot get away,
flutters and darts about in front of the snake with the
terror of despair. I do not think he is any more
" fascinated " than he would be by a cat or a weasel
under the same conditions.

As regards rats and other small four-legged creatures,
they really do not seem to show any great fear of snakes
while the latter keep quiet. A cane rat used to sleep
habitually on the top of a big python I had confined

SNAKES : THE PYTHON 93

with him in a cage, and this went on for over a month,
in fact until I sent the snake away.

Rats are known often to gnaw at and sometimes kill
sluggish snakes with which they are shut up, the latter
sleeping on, and apparently allowing themselves to be
worried without taking any notice.

While not precisely hibernating in the strict sense of
the term, snakes are so susceptible to cold that, during
the winter months in south Africa, they remain almost
entirely under ground. A hot day may, however, tempt
them abroad, and therefore, no matter what the time
of year, it is always advisable to keep a sharp look-out
when walking through thick grass or bushwood. Snakes
crawl by alternate movements of the ribs, the heads of
which are, as it were, hinged to the sections of the back-
bone ; therefore, on a perfectly smooth surface, such as
glass, they are helpless, while a prickly exterior, as that
of cocoanut matting, hurts the lower extremities of
the ribs and so is avoided.

Some species of snakes are egg-laying, while others
bring forth their young alive. The senses of hearing,
smell, and sight are, in most species, very well developed.
They eat mammals, birds, frogs, lizards, and eggs, and,
in the reduction of the swarming numbers of small rodents,
are of considerable service to the agriculturist.

Although the greater number of species are non-
venomous, it is too much to expect the ordinary layman
to be able to discriminate. Therefore, except in the case
of such easily distinguishable forms as the blind burrowing
snakes, which look rather like overgrown worms, most
people will consider it always more expedient to be on the
safe side.

When in camp, the precaution of shaking out the
bedclothes before retiring for the night, and in the

94 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

morning turning over, previous to donning, the boots
and clothes is a wise one. A puff adder as a bedfellow
is an unpleasant companion. Mosquito curtains, always
useful, have the additional value of keeping off such
intruders. Snakes have the strongest possible objection
to the smell of disinfectants, and nicotine is fatal to them.
One drop of tobacco oil on the tongue will kill any
ordinary sized snake. A rope soaked in carbolic and
laid round the tent will always obviate the risk of a
midnight visit. This objection of snakes to cross a bar
of some substance objectionable to them is well known
among the native " doctors." The fowl-house at Sabi
Bridge had suffered severely from the nightly depre-
dations of a cobra which always managed to elude capture,
and which it was impossible to keep out of the rough
shelter of reeds and grass. My wagon driver, who
happened to be qualifying at the time as a " doctor,"
volunteered to stop the marauder, and, other means
failing, I enjoined him to do his best. He then, with
considerable ceremony, proceeded to draw a little trench
round the fowl-house, in which he scattered some acrid
smelling powder, produced from one of the numerous
cartridge cases and antelope horns which he kept about
his person. He next pronounced a sort of blessing over
his work, and, turning to me with a bland smile, stated
• that the trouble would not recur. Although at the time
I secretly ridiculed the whole thing, it is a fact that the
snake thenceforth ceased its visits.

The poison of venomous snakes is secreted in glands
on each side of the head. When the reptile strikes, the
hinged fangs, which normally lie back horizontally along
the inside of the jaw, are protruded forward, and the im-
pact on the bitten substance sets to work certain muscles
which drive the poison from the glands down a groove or

SNAKES : THE PYTHON 95

hollow in the tooth into the wound which the latter has
made. Clothes are therefore some protection ; for even
should the fangs penetrate the flesh, a part of the poison
may have been ejected at the first contact. On the other
hand, at each bite a dangerous snake expels many times
the amount of venom needful to his purpose. Leggings
and strong boots are effective protections, except against
such reptiles as, from their larger size, are able to strike
at a higher level. A snake as a rule is able to strike
about half the length of his own body above the ground.

Pythons. The python is found in most tropical and
sub-tropical countries of Africa, and the south African
grows to a large size and bulk. The biggest I ever saw
killed was eighteen feet long : but I believe that they
reach as much as twenty-two feet. The girth of one of
the latter length would be nearly that of a man's thigh.

Pythons are non- venomous, and their jaws are furnished
with a large number of solid and sharply recurved teeth,
which give them a most tenacious grip upon anything
they have seized. A pair of horny points occur, one on
each side at the lower end of the body, indicating that
the remote ancestors of this snake were possessed of legs.

Pythons usually rest underground, making use of old
ant-bear and porcupine holes for the purpose. Sometimes
they lie coiled up asleep in thick bush or among long
grass; and I once unwittingly took my midday siesta,
pending the arrival of my transport, within three feet
of a large one which was employed in^, the same manner
as myself. They are most active during the cool mornmg
and evening hours ; but they will catch their prey at all
times of the day and night. Their favourite method is
to lie concealed close to a game path, or stretched along
the overhanging bough of a tree, whence they drop on
to their prey as it passes below. They are very fond of

96 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

water, and spend hours completely immersed, the head
or nostrils only just showing above the surface. Small
animals coming to drink are frequently thus seized,
dragged ashore, and swallowed. Should the water be
a little discoloured, it is almost impossible to distin-
guish the snake when concealed in this manner.

I have met pythons moving across the open in the
middle of the day, their huge length dragged laboriously
along at the rate of not more than a mile an hour,
which seems to be about the utmost they are capable
of. To see them thus is, however, rather exceptional,
for they have many enemies among the large birds ol
prey, and so, as far as possible, keep under cover. I
once walked up to one which was slowly moving along.
When I got within a couple of yards or so, he raised and
drew back his head, hissing loudly, but made no attempt
to lunge at me. On my wounding him with a rook rifle,
the bullet somehow missing the backbone, he merely
lowered his head and moved on at the same slow pace
as before.

The python lies perfectly motionless in his ambush
until some unsuspecting mammal or bird of suitable size
comes along, when, making a swift lunge, he seizes it,
if a quadruped, usually by one of the legs or the nose.
In a twinkling of an eye he has it enveloped in his coils,
and then, still retaining the grip of his fangs, he proceeds
to crush it slowly to death by muscular constriction.
Should the animal be a fairly large one, a purchase is
obtained by wreathing the tail round a tree trunk a
branch, even a tuft of grass. This aid is not necessary
with small creatures, and a turkey cock, which fell a
victim in broad daylight at Sabi Bridge, was found
wrapped in the python's coils in a corner of the yard
where no hold for the tail was possible.

SNAKES : THE PYTHON 97

The process of killing takes some time. Wolhuter
heard a duiker scream in a bush a little distance away ;
it took him nearly ten minutes to find the animal, which
was in the grip of a twelve-foot python. After the
latter had been disposed of, the buck was discovered to
be still alive and without a single bone broken, though
so severely crushed otherwise that it had to be killed.
Wolhuter considered that it would have taken another
ten minutes at least completely to squeeze the life out
of it. Some of my natives rescued a young duiker which
a python had just seized, and brought it to me. It was
much bruised, and unable to walk for some days, but
with a little attention completely recovered, and is now
the mother of an increasing family at the Transvaal
Zoological Gardens.

Having crushed the life from its victim, the snake next
proceeds to swallow it, head first. The body has pre-
viously been manipulated into an elongated roll, the
limbs protruding straight fore and aft. In the course of
being swallowed it becomes covered with the saliva which
drips freely from the reptile's jaws and materially assists
the operation, but there seems to be no ground for the
old belief that the snake deliberately licks its prey all
over.

Duikers and other buck are swallowed horns and all;
the latter, like the bones, being ultimately dissolved by
gastric action. A python is now and then found lying
torpid, the horns of a buck protruding through the
skin without apparently any inconvenience being felt.
No doubt after a time they would drop off, and the
puncture close up. The digestion of a large animal
takes some time, and during the process the snake is
helpless, and consequently at the mercy of any enemy
that may find him. It consequently endeavours either

98 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA •

to get underground, or to discover some secure and hidden
.retreat in the bush.

Personally, I never knew a python to seize anything
larger than a half-grown bushbuck, and that would,
I should imagine, be about the limit of a twelve-foot
serpent's capabilities. Natives say that a very large
one can swallow an impala, but I must say I never heard
of such a thing occurring in the Game Reserve, where
they have seldom been found to have eaten anything
exceeding in size a duiker or a steenbuck. Therefore,
I think that instances of these snakes attacking full-
grown human beings must be very exceptional indeed,
and nothing of the kind has ever occurred within my
experience. Of course. South Africa has its share of
snake stories and of vivid narrators thereof, but they
should all be accepted with a certain amount of caution.
Pythons, in fact, retreat, like other wild creatures, before
man, nor does the capture alive of even the largest speci-
mens involve any risk or much difficulty.

The python's life is made up of a series of alternate
heavy gorges and inconceivably long fasts. It is said
that they can fast without inconvenience for at least
eighteen months. I have myself kept large ones which,
for over three months, refused all food without apparent
discomfort. During nearly the whole of its period of
captivity, one of them remained all day immersed in a
large kaffir cooking-pot filled with water. Mr. Sanderson
captured one of fourteen feet in length out of a pool
in the year 1904, and, having put it in a sack, entrusted
the latter to a native to carry home. The " boy "
became alarmed, and, after a time, threw his burden
away, when the python, still enveloped in the covering,
managed to wriggle down an ant-bear hole. Thence it
was recaptured next day, and was placed inside a wire-

SNAKES : THE PYTHON 99

netting enclosure where several fowls were running. In
this partial confinement it remained for several months,
I forget how many ; but during the whole period it made
no attempt to touch the fowls or any other food, though
its stomach was to all appearance empty when it was
caught.

When the python is free, and in warm weather, its
meals are perhaps more frequent. My quarters at Sabi
Bridge being infested with rats, I was accustomed to
maintain a small colony of cats for their repression.
From time to time, over a period of five years, kittens
kept disappearing in a mysterious manner, at first at
long intervals, but later more frequently ; until at last
almost every litter born during the warm weather vanished
as soon as the individuals composing it were big enough
to move about by themselves. In the cold weather,
inexplicable as it then seemed, there were few or no losses.
One morning I missed the whole of a few weeks' old litter.
After a long search all the kittens except one were dis-
covered hidden under stones and amongst bushes at some
distance from the house, and, from the conduct of the
mother cat, it was obvious that she had placed them
there for safety, for so soon as they were brought back she
proceeded to remove them again.

Up to that time I had rather suspected native theft,
for, to some tribes, cat meat is a far from despicable dish.
Birds of prey were also put out of court, for the mother
would not have removed her offspring from the safety
of a veranda into the open to escape these enemies.
A week or two later the old cat herself disappeared, and
finally the big " tom," the oldest inhabitant of the
station, failed to answer his name. Soon after this,
Healy, coming on to the veranda at dawn one morning,
found a seven-foot python coiled up in a chair, and

100 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

seemingly quite at home. Seizing a sack which happened
to be at hand, and assisted by my cook Ah, he held it
temptingly open in front of the reptile, which immediately
slid quietly down into the fancied safety of the dark
cavity. From this time forth no more cats were lost,
and there can be no doubt that this python, with its
mate, which was caught in the act of raiding the poultry
yard, had for years been growing and waxing fat chiefly
on a diet of domestic cats. The blockhouse and veranda
which the latter chiefly affected were built on an em-
bankment faced with rough boulders, overlooking the
river — an ideal python hiding-place.

I once took fifty-five eggs from a sixteen-foot female
python. In size they resemble those of a hen, but have
a leathery skin in place of a shell. They are laid in holes,
and the female is said to coil herself round them until
they are hatched.

CHAPTER XIV
SOME HARMLESS SNAKES

The Egg-Eating Snake is distributed over most of South
Africa. The type found in the Sabi is from two to three
feet long, and has large squarish dark brown spots on
its back, with darker bars on the sides of the body ; the
ground work of the rest of the body is very pale brown.
This species is quite harmless, its teeth being practically
non-existent, but it has in its throat a mechanism for
breaking the shell of the egg which it is swallowing whole,
so that the contents slide down easily into the stomach.
This snake has a superficial resemblance to the night
adder, though it is much more slender and longer pro-
portionately, and is frequently killed in mistake for it.

SOME HARMLESS SNAKES loi

There are several kinds of water snakes, one brown
and four green. The brown type found in the Sabi is
oHve colour above and pinkish white below. These
snakes are generally found in and about pools of water,
but I have seen them in my compound, where they no
doubt came to hunt frogs. The teeth are very small
and solid, and the length of the snake is about two feet
when full grown. Natives are very frightened of them,
but they are quite harmless.

Another type of snake which inspires great terror in
the native mind, and is generally supposed by white men
to be very dangerous, is the File Snake. These are quite
big reptiles, sometimes running to five feet long. They
have a three-cornered file-like appearance owing to the
scales along the middle of the back being raised, making
the cut section of the snake appear triangular. They
are often found about rubbish heaps, and natives say
that they are quite as dangerous as mambas. They are,
however, perfectly harmless, having solid teeth and no
poison glands.

There are also several kinds of harmless house snakes,
which are apt to inspire great terror owing to their habit
of hanging about human dwellings on the hunt after rats
and mice. They are usually about a couple of feet long,
and there are four kinds described from South Africa. The
Olive Brown House Snake is of the named colour above,
and white below. The spotted species is of a yellowish-
brown colour with reddish-brown spots. The Striped
House Snake is pale brown above with two yellow lines
on either side of the head, while the last kind, the Brown
House Snake, is mixed brown and yellow above.

Although no one can be blamed for at once killing any
snake he sees, of the nature of which he is not quite
certain, however harmless it may really be, it would be

102 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

well if people having killed a snake were to examine its
jaws, so that next time they come across a similar kind
they may know whether it is really dangerous, or whether
it is in fact a harmless friend, merely hunting down the
mice, like any well-regulated domestic cat. The jaws
of the dead reptile having been prised open, it is easy
with a pin or a pen nib to examine the nature of the teeth.
If the snake carries right in the front of the upper jaw a
pair of long slender fangs like small fish bones which lie
more or less flat along the jaw, then you may put him
down at once as a dangerous creature to be slain at
sight.

If there are no fangs in the front part of the jaw, but
two or more longish ones towards the back part of it,
then the snake is no doubt of the back fanged kind, and
may be regarded with justifiable lack of sympathy.

Should, however, the snake be found to possess only
a set of little short teeth with no prominent fangs (teeth
in fact more or less like those of a small fish) or no dis-
cernible teeth at all, it is doubtless perfectly harmless.

Although all snakes are regarded by the vast majority
of people with a sort of hereditary aversion, still it should
not be forgotten that all of them are great destroyers of
small vermin, and the harmless kinds have nothing
whatever against them.

CHAPTER XV

POISONOUS SNAKES: THE MAMBA— COBRAS

The poisonous land snakes of Africa mostly belong
to two very distinct sub-families, one containing the
cobras and mambas and the other the vipers. There are
several important differences of bodily structure between

POISONOUS SNAKES • 103

them, and the effect on the victims of the poison of each is
dissimilar.

The venom of the first group acts most strongly upon
the nervous system, and only in a secondary degree on
the blood, which is not clotted or thickened by it. The
general symptoms are sleepiness and weakness, followed
by vomiting and partial paralysis. The action of the heart
is much quickened, and convulsions may or may not
precede death. Should the person or beast bitten be
lucky enough to survive, recovery is quick and complete.

In the case of viperine poison, the action on the nerves
is, at least among the lower animals, secondary to that
on the blood. The latter becomes clotted, both the red
and the white corpuscles are broken up, the walls of the
small blood-vessels become ruptured, and there is
bleeding into the surrounding tissues, which causes dis-
coloured patches to appear on the body. Death, if it
occurs in the earlier stages, is due to paralysis of the heart
and lungs, caused by interference with the circulation of
the blood. Should the patient survive these earlier effects,
he is liable ultimately to succumb to blood poisoning.
The action of viperine poison is slower than that of the
cobras and mambas, but recovery seems to take longer,
sloughing and other signs of constitutional disturbance
sometimes persisting for a year or more after the accident.

The Mamba occurs in forest regions, at low elevations,
throughout most of tropical Africa. It is a large and
highly venomous snake, attaining, when full grown, to a
length of about ten feet. Above, its colour is very dark
olive green, verging on slaty black ; the underneath parts
are white. The body tapers gracefully, and the head is
small. Individuals are sometimes seen in which a bright
grass-green colour takes the place of the black, and it
has been widely believed in the past that the difference

104 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

was specific. This is now contradicted by scientific
experts, who hold that other causes are responsible.
While some are inclined to believe that the contrast in
colour may be due to surroundings, others think that green
is the colour of the young snake, and that he darkens
with age. The Sabi Bush is notorious for the number
of snakes it holds, and there are certainly more mambas
to the square mile there than in any other part of Africa
with which I am acquainted. They appear to be per-
fectly constant in colour — i.e. olive black — though I
saw a green snake, about eight feet long, with the ap-
pearance and unmistakable action of a mamba, take
refuge in a leafy tree upon one occasion. The bush
aforesaid consists of stunted acacias, interspersed with
sun-baked outcrops of granite rock, and there are few
cool and shady ravines capable of adequately and per-
manently sheltering any snake from the strong light.

Those who support the theory that surroundings
influence colour, point out that the skin of a dead green
inamba, if exposed to the sun's rays, quickly becomes
dark ; and if this holds good when the snake is still alive,
few individuals in the Sabi Bush would have any chance
of retaining the lighter hue. On the other hand, I never
remember noticing a black mamba under about seven
feet long, and I do not think it would be possible to con-
fuse a small one with any other species of snake, the
whole appearance and manner of moving are so different.
It is conceivable that the young may live entirely in trees
until they have attained a considerable size, preying on
small birds and their offspring. They would thus largely
escape attention, and so their universally green colour
would not be noticed. Some observers say that the
green mamba is a tree snake, while the black one is not.
I am in a position, from constant observation, to certify

POISONOUS SNAKES 105

that a black mamba is an extraordinarily nimble climber,
and takes refuge aloft as often as in the ground. The
truth may perhaps be that while the young are entirely
tree dwellers, some, when full grown, retain an
individual preference for the life, and, remaining per-
manently among the branches of the large and leafy
trees which grow near the sand-spruits, retain their
bright colour, and in a country such as the Sabi are
seldom noted.

Many tales are current of the ferocity of the mamba,
and tradition and exaggeration have woven such a
reputation round his name that its mere mention is
often sufficient to send a shiver even through those who
live far from his haunts. I am bound to say that I have
noticed in South Africa that the farther people are from
anywhere that a mamba is likely to be encountered, and
the less experience they have of the snake, the greater
is their fear of him, and the more dogmatic their as-
sertions as to his deeds and misdeeds. This is, however,
true of all dangerous animals ; distance invariably lends
a terror to their names.

There is no denying, however, that the mamba is
to be treated with the utmost respect and approached
with the greatest caution. In the first place, its bite
means almost certain and rapid death, and secondly,
thanks to its great length, it can strike a man far above
the protection afforded by boots and leggings. Its
movements, too, are so incalculable and its pace so rapid
that it is very difficult to get out of its way, even should
it have no aggressive intentions. Fortunately, it is a
very alert and watchful creature, early detecting the
approach of danger, and at once making with all speed
for its hole. Should man or beast be unlucky enough
to be betw*ien it and that refuge, it will strike desperately

io6 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

in passing, and the results will be none the less serious
that the blow has been given in fear and not in malice.
When its course lies fortunately in some other direction,
it then presents an interesting and beautiful sight. The
slender head is held high in the air, and sweeps forward
and sideways as the body glides over the ground in a
series of graceful undulating curves nearly at the pace
of a horse's gallop. At times nearly half the body seems
to be off the earth, and it is this method of progression,
so different from the wriggling movements of other snakes.

I

A BLACK MAMBA

mj&

which has given rise to the assertion that the mamba
" goes on its tail."

It is found in bush and forest country and amongst
rocks. A great deal of its hunting is done among the
branches of trees, where it seizes small birds, squirrels,
and other arboreal creatures. It glides amongst the
twigs, and even from tree to tree, with wonderful speed
and ease, and its partiality for shade, when obtainable,
is soon discovered by any one who grows grenadillas or
other thick creepers. Ant-bear, porcupine, and other
burrows, discarded by their rightful owners, are used
as refuges, and therein, as well as in the hollow trunks

POISONOUS SNAKES 107

of old trees, are eggs laid and young born. When search-
ing in the latter places tor genets or other mammais,
it is always well to take heed lest a mamba be unwittingly
disturbed.

Rough stony kopjes covered with long grass are almost
certain to contain mambas, and caution should be ex-
ercised in walking about such places during the hot
weather I was once riding along the bank of a river,
and in passing under a thorn tree my hat happened to
get knocked off, and fell a few feet behind my pony's
tail, so pulling up I dismounted to recover it. On the
near side of the animal was the tree which had caused
the mishap, while on the off side, about two yards away,
lay a large ant-bear hole. Just as I was stooping to pick
up the hat there was a rustle amongst the bush and grass
lying at the foot of the tree, and out came a mamba,
which made straight for the hole, the way whereto took
him straight below my pony's body. When he was
exactly underneath it he suddenly caught sight of me,
stopped short, and, raising his crest about a foot, looked
fixedly at me, the forked tongue darting in and out. It
was a very critical moment, for though a shot-gun was
in my hands, I could not fire through the pony's hind legs,
and the slightest movement on its part would, I knew,
mean its certain death. The strain must have lasted
for nearly half a minute, and an uncommonly long half-
minute too, and all the time the pony, an old favourite,
trained like all veld-bred horses, to stand quite still
with the reins over its head, stood motionless, calmly
masticating a tuft of grass. Suddenly the snake dropped
his head, and, making a dive for the hole, disappeared
down it, to my inexpressible relief. It is at such moments
that one knows the meaning of " having one's heart in
one's mouth."

loS ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

Another time fortune was less kind. I had brought
down my wagon to a point on the Crocodile River
about eight miles from Komati Poort, and, the oxen
having been outspanned and watered, I rode into the
village, meaning to spend the night there. After dark a
messenger followed me in, to say that two of the oxen
had been killed by a mamba. I went out and found
the best leader in the span dead, and one of the after
oxen in a very bad way. The former had lived about
two hours after being bitten, while the latter survived
until the morning in a partially unconscious condition. It
seemed that shortly before sunset the beasts had grazed
into a patch of long grass, where they disturbed a mamba.
The snake immediately charged through the herd, as
usual, striking right and left as it went. One ox was
struck high up in the hind leg and the other in the
shoulder.

A little fox terrier of mine ran in at a mamba which
I had disabled, but which was not yet dead. The snake
had just strength left to bite the dog in the thigh, and
expired immediately afterwards. In view of the former's
weak state, I hoped for the best, and picking up the dog
in my arms ran for the station, only 200 yards distant.
Before I got there he was sick, in a few minutes more
quite limp, and, in ten minutes from the time he was
bitten, stone dead ! This gives an idea of the rapid
action of the poison on a nervous animal.

Many years ago the colonel of a British infantry
regiment was killed by a mamba in Zululand. He had
walked up to a deserted native village — always a likely
spot for one of these snakes — to look for a suitable
camping ground for his men, when he was bitten in
the thigh. Telling the adjutant, who alone had ac-
companied him, to run back quickly for medical help.

POISONOUS SNAKES 109

the colonel sat down to administer what first aid he
could to himself ; but when assistance arrived, ten
minutes or so later, he was dead. I once had a luckier
escape than I deserved from being bitten. As I was
walking through the bush a snake of some kind rustled
off through some long grass on the left, and I just caught
a glimpse of its tail disappearing down a hole. The
native with me said it was a python, so I walked up to
the hole — a large one — and peered in. I soon saw in
the semi-darkness what appeared to be part of a small
python coiled up a few feet down the hole, so I fired at
it with the little collector's gun I was carrying. In-
stantly something shot out of the hole like a big released
watch-spring, and came within three inches of my leg.
It was a mamba. Needless to say I lost no time in
placing a certain amount of distance between us. I
suppose he was too much injured by the shot to do more
than make one lunge, for on my returning armed with
a double-barrelled gun he had vanished down the hole.

Mambas are not, under ordinary circumstances, in the
least aggressive, and, in fact, their great object is to
escape from man's presence as fast as possible. It is,
as with other snakes, the instinct of self-protection alone
which prompts them to strike. So-called charges are
usually but efforts to get away to some hiding-place.
I have never seen a wounded one attack, though they
often raise their heads threateningly, and no doubt would
lunge, if one came close enough to them. In any case,
a man armed with a shot-gun, or even a stout stick,
ought to be perfectly safe, provided — and there lies the
risk — ^he has time to use his weapon. However, there
are exceptions to every rule, especially where wild animals
are concerned, and the following is a reliable instance of
one : Wolhuter was riding along a native path one day

no ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

in the summer of igio. Suddenly, out of the long grass,
not ten feet in front of his horse's nose, a mamba raised
its crest a good four feet from the ground, and appeared
determined to dispute passage. Snatching his horse
quickly round. Wolhuter stuck the spurs in and went
off at best speed for fifty yards or more, when he pulled
up and looked back. He could then see the mamba's
head above the grass, its eyes still watching him, and
from its position he judged it had come after him for
about a dozen yards. In about eighteen years' residence
in the bushveld, he said it was the only instance he ever
knew of such a thing happening, and no doubt, had it
been possible to investigate, some reason outside sheer
vice would have been found justifying the animal's
conduct.

The female mamba is rather larger than the male, which
may be distinguished by its more slender and whippy tail.

The largest individual I ever killed measured about
ten and a half feet, and one of that length would, at its
thickest part, be of about the girth of a man's wrist.

After the mambas, the most dangerous members of
the family are the cobras, of which there are several
species. Their bite is deadly ; but as they seldom
exceed five or six feet in length, they cannot strike so-
high as a mamba ; nor have they the rushing habits
which render the latter so formidable. When excited
they can expand the skin of the neck, thus forming what
is known as the " hood." Members of the genus are
found all over Africa wherever forest or scrub exists and
the climate is sufficiently warm.

The Black-Necked Cobra. This is the commonest
species in the Sabi Bush of the eastern Transvaal. The
members of it favour as dwelling-places the crevices of
rocks and the interstices between large stones. A rough-

POISONOUS SNAKES in

built and unmortared wall is therefore certain to hold a
number of them. They are the greatest pests to the
poultry yard that it is possible to imagine, and, chiefly
on their account, fowls must at night be enclosed in
pens entirely covered with fine-meshed wire netting.
Even when this precaution has been taken, they have a
marvellous knack of discovering the least flaw or hole,
and of squeezing themselves through. Having got
inside, they proceed to slaughter the fowls wholesale,
apparently for the sole purpose of finding out if they
are sitting on young chickens in the fluffy stage, for they
are not big enough to eat large poultry, and they do not
touch eggs. I have found as many as fourteen fowls
dead in the morning, besides all the young chickens that
happened to be with them. Often, luckily, the marauder
is so bulged out with his meal, that the crevice whereby
he entered will not admit of his depature, and so he
suffers for his crime. These cobras are also rather prone
to enter dwelling-houses, perhaps in pursuit of rats and
mice ; they can get in by ventilators and apertures at
some distance from the ground. Thatched roofs are their
favourite haunts, and, since the appearance of a poisonous
snake falling on to the table or the bed is an unpleasant
one, it is always well, when possible, to have cottages in
snake-infested countries roofed with iron, or, failing this,
to interpose a ceiling of boards or canvas between the
room and the roof.

In addition to inflicting a dangerous bite, the black-
necked cobra has also a very unpleasant habit of ejecting
venom from its fangs into the eyes of its enemies at a
distance of several feet. I had an unpleasant personal
experience of this once. I was in a dark outhouse one
rainy morning, when I suddenly felt a spatter of moisture
first in one eye and then in the other, repeated instantly

TI2 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

in the left one. Smarting was followed in a minute or
two by intense pain, and complete loss of sight. For-
tunately, assistance was at hand, and the eyes were
treated continuously for three hours with fresh milk
squeezed liberally into them. The clot of blood with
which each was covered then came away, and the surface,
though much inflamed, became visible. The milk ap-
peared to possess the power of coagulating with and
sucking up the venom. It was a great relief to discover
that I was not permanently blind, as I had feared ; but
bandages were necessary for a couple of days, and blue
spectacles for a month. At the end of that time re-
covery seemed complete, and then there came a relapse,
the left eye, which had received a double dose of poison,
giving way, and causing me considerable inconvenience
for a long time. The snake, which was killed and skinned
during my period of prostration, proved to be a black-
necked cobra. Wolhuter once had a similar accident, a
cobra being under his dining-room table ; but in his case
the dose of venom was a slight one, and recovery was
rapid and complete. Many of our domestic animals,
dogs, calves, and, on one occasion, a foal, have com-
pletely lost the sight of one or both eyes in this manner,
and solitary natives, unlucky enough to meet with such
an accident in the bush, far away from water, are said
to experience like results.

The Ringhals is a first cousin of the cobra group,
and, though foreign to the eastern low country of the
Transvaal, is well known as a spitting snake throughout
the more civilized parts of south Africa. Its bite is
dangerous, and it is marked in black and brown, deriving
its name from the white band or bands on its neck.

The black-necked cobra is the only representative of
the hooded tribe I have met with in the neighbourhood

POISONOUS SNAKES 113

of the Sabi, but further north, and elsewhere, the banded
or Egyptian cobra is found in the Game Reserve, and the
dogs of a ranger, in kiUing one, suffered severely. It is
often quite impossible to restrain dogs from chasing and
worrying snakes, they seem — especially terriers — to have
no idea of the danger.

The Coral Snake also belongs to the cobra family. It
is a very handsomely marked little snake about two
feet long, banded with orange and black bars. It appears
to be largely a tree snake. In examining the nests of
a big colony of weaver birds, which had taken possession
of a tree in the compound at Sabi Bridge, we found about
half a dozen of these snakes, apparently with permanent
quarters there. They must have fared sumptuously, as
they were all stuffed with nestling birds. They are of
course poisonous, like the rest of their family.

The Shield Snake is another poisonous member of the
cobra family, though, like the coral snake, it is not a true
cobra. It has a black head and neck, and a brownish
body with dark bands. I once stumbled on one of these
gentry while looking for some tools in a box, in one corner
of which he had snugly ensconced himself. He was,
however, considerate enough to hiss loudly, and so give
notice of his presence.

The various species of garter snakes likewise are akin
to the true cobras. They are all brightly marked in red
or yellow and black, banded or spotted.

CHAPTER XVI

POISONOUS SNAKES : VIPERS : BACK-FANGED SNAKES

The Puff Adder. As it is its great quickness and
activity which render the mamba so formidable, so the

114 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

puff adder is dangerous mainly from attributes of exactly
a contrary nature. In Africa it is the most deadly and
probably the most widely spread of all the viper tribe.
It is handsomely marked in a " carpet pattern " of brown
and yellow of varying shades. In shape it is short and
thick, slow moving and sluggish by habit. The fangs
are unusually long, and the bite very deadly. Owing to
its sleepy disposition, the puff adder seldom hears the
approach of footsteps ; and, as it enjoys basking in the
sun, stretched at full length across a footpath, the danger
of accidentally treading upon it is considerable, if a
sharp look-out is not kept. When roused, and frightened
or angry, it can strike with the speed of lightning, the
blow being delivered more or less sideways. It also likes
to creep into sheltered corners for warmth, and some-
times is found sleeping in the folds of blankets and
clothes in camp.

These vipers take no inconsiderable toU of both domestic
and wild animals, possibly more than any other kind
of snake. When camping out one cold night in June,
a favourite Irish terrier, seeking a warm corner to curl
himself up in, unluckily chose the winter quarters of one
of these brutes, and was bitten in the head. I did not
discover what had happened until the morning, when
it was too late to save him, though he lived all that day
Another time two donkey foals were bitten in their pen
one moonlight night, by a puff adder, which, presumably,
they had curiously sniffed at as he was making his way
across. One was already dead when found in the morning,
and the other expired in the course of the day. A puff
adder often hangs on and worries after having inserted its
fangs, and, though the action of the venom is slower than
that of mambas and cobras, the depth of the wounds renders
them difficult of treatment. Puff adders do not lay eggs.

POISONOUS SNAKES 115

The Night Adder. This is another viper which
is very common in south Africa. It is often found in
and near dweUings, and, like the puff adder, is so sleepy
by nature, that it is liable to be trodden upon accident-
ally. The bite, though dangerous, is not necessarily
fatal, and the reptile, being not more than a foot long,
cannot strike very high. I have often seen my cats
eating night adders which they had caught and killed.

This species lays eggs.

The Horned Adder, also a dangerous viper, is usually
found in sand regions, and frequents the western portions
of south Africa ; an allied species the Horned Puft Adder
- — exists in the Transvaal and other parts of the sub-
continent. Both have a nasty habit of lying concealed
in loose sand, where they are practically invisible until
trodden upon. These two species have little horn-like
scales above the eyes.

Several species of vipers are burrowers by habit, and
so are not often met with ; but all are poisonous and
dangerous.

Besides the cobras and the vipers, there are a large
number of species known as Back Fanged snakes, a term
which means that their poison fangs are set, not in front,
but far back in their jaws. It is therefore much more
difficult for these snakes to inflict a bite than it is for
the front fanged snakes to do so. In fact for a long time
it was assumed that these back fanged snakes were
harmless, though it is now known that if they can secure
a grip they can many of them inflict a most dangerous
bite.

Of these is the Tree Snake or Boomslang which, like
the mamba, may range in colour from green to black,
and has a conspicuously large eye. It attains to as much
as five feet in length.

ii6 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

A very common species of back fanged snake in the
Sabi Bush is the long, whippy, and very active Sand or
Grass Snake, which is easily recognized by being marked
lengthways in yellow and green or black stripes. These
snakes are, practically speaking, harmless to man and
the domestic animals, but they do a good deal of damage
to young wild birds. A pair of wire-tailed swallows once
built a nest on my veranda, in which they had brought
out and successfully reared several young ones. All
of these except one had left the nest, though they and the
parent birds would return to it at night. The backward
youngster, which was a day or two behind the others
in acquiring enough strength to fly, was left all day alone
in the nest, and fed at intervals. One day I heard a
great noise, and going out found the old swallows fluttering
round the nest. From the eaves of the roof protruded
the head and fore part of a grass snake which had seized
the young swallow, and was trying to drag it back under
the roof. The bird was struggling desperately. On
seeing me the snake let go its prey, which fell to the
ground, and I picked it up still alive, but after a few
struggles it died, evidently having received a poisonous
bite from the snake.

The Tiger Snake is another of the same family, and
is a yellowish snake, spotted with brown ; it also is a great
hunter of young birds and has been found busy in a
weaver bird colony.

The Red-lipped Snake is to be distinguished from its
upper lip being of a bright red colour ; it has large light
brown-coloured scales and a black band on its head. Like
the preceding, its fangs are set too far back to be very
dangerous. It is a small snake, seldom exceeding a couple
of feet or so in length, and lives mainly on rats, mice,
lizards, frogs and insects

PART III
FRESH-WATER FISH

CHAPTER XVII

TROUT : CARP : TIGER FISH : BARBER : YELLOW FISH :
MISCELLANEOUS

A VAST field of study and discovery yet awaits the
naturalist among the fishes of Africa, and at present there
is no work in existence which deals with them com-
prehensively. This lack of recorded description is in
no way due to want of material to work upon, for most
of the rivers, lakes, and pools of the continent swarm with
native species. Exceptions are some of the rapid-
flowing and cool streams which drain the uplands of south
Africa ; and these, destitute of natural denizens, have
been wisely utilized for the introduction of rainbow and
brown trout. The experiment was first made, if my
memory serves me correctly, in the Mooi River in Natal,
about 1890, and so successful did it prove that it was
extended to many other streams of a similar character
in south Africa.

At the present day very high-class trout fishing is to
be had both in Natal and in the Transvaal, and in the
latter Province the trout hatchery at Pot chef stroom,
which receives a small Government grant in aid, pro-
duces annually an immense number of fry, which are
distributed in suitable waters through the country.
The expenditure for 1910 was under ;^6oo, and a credit

ii8 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

balance was shown. The law forbids the taking of trout
by any other means excepting by angling with the fly,
and thus due increase is ensured, for in the chosen
localities there are few natural enemies to contend with.

Trout in south Africa grow in size and numbers at a
rate unknown in Europe. Some rainbow fry were turned
into a Swaziland stream in? October 1908, and in
November 1909 Mr. R. T. Coryndon, the Commissioner,
landed one weighing two and a quarter pounds, which
must be nearly a record in rapid growth. This trout, the
first ever caught in Swaziland, is now modelled among
Mr. Coryndon's many other trophies of the field. Ac-
climatization has also been successfully carried out as
far north as British Nyasaland, where the trout have
taken kindly to the mountain streams of the highlands
near Zomba.

It is said that on the whole the rainbow trout has been
found more suitable to south African waters than the
British form. On the Mooi River and elsewhere fish of
from four to six pounds in weight are constantly taken
by anglers. It remains to be seen to what size those
turned into the deep artificial lakes and reservoirs near
Johannesburg may eventually attain.

European carp have likewise been introduced to many
of the dams and reservoirs with great success. It has
proved to be a very popular fish in the country, and the
Trout Acclimatization Society receives applications for
small fish from all over south Africa. From the Klein-
fontein Dam, which was stocked in 1904, several tons
weight of carp were captured in 1910.

The Tiger Fish. Of all the fish native to south
Africa, the tiger fish stands out easily the king. Of
slender and graceful build, covered with large silvery scales,
ornamented on his sides with horizontal black stripes,

TIGER FISH

YELLOW FISH

120 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

his fins and forked tail of orange red, his personal beauty
is as striking as his boldness and courage. His familiar
name is not an inapt one. His mouth is armed with
truly formidable teeth, set well apart, and fitting into
sockets in the opposite jaw. They are conical, sharp
as needles, and, in large specimens, fully a quarter of an
inch long. His character is in keeping with his outward
appearance, for his habits are essentially predatory, and,
were it not for the crocodile, he would be chief tyrant
of the waters which he makes his home. In all prob-
ability, too, he amply revenges himself upon the newly
hatched reptiles for the toll which the larger ones exact
from his species.

Found only in the waters of tropical and semi-tropical
countries, the favourite haunts of the tiger fish are deep
still pools at the tails of streams, whose banks, closely
fringed with dense reeds, afford secure ambush where
he can lie in wait for, and dart out upon his prey. There
is some doubt as to the size attained by tiger fish. It is
said that in large rivers, like the Zambezi, they will
exceed thirty pounds weight ; but the largest I ever saw
caught there scaled sixteen. In the Crocodile River of
the Transvaal, where " tiger fishing " has become a
recognized pastime, I do not think that the fourteen-
pounder caught by Major Greenhill-Gardjme in 1902 has
yet been surpassed. The largest I ever landed myself
from the Sabi scaled a few ounces under nine pounds.

These fish give the most magnificent " play " when
hooked. As soon as one, having taken the bait, feels
the prick of the steel, he dashes off in a series of magni-
ficent rushes, bounding again and again out of the water
shaking his head, and using every effort to get free.
He will scarecely ever sulk, and should he do so for a
time, it is only as a prelude to yet more vigorous action.

THE TIGER FISH 121

His teeth debar the possibility of holding him with
anything but a specially made cast of steel tracing, and,
even when such formidable tackle is made use of the
reel must be allowed to run freely, else, if a big fish is in
question, the top of the rod may go.

The method of angling usually pursued is to troll with
a spoon bait about an inch long. There must be plenty
of small but very strong hooks attached by swivels and
rings (no gimp) to the spoon. The mouth of the tiger
fish is so hard and bony that it is very hard for a single
hook to get a grip, and very careful play is always neces-
sary. Fortunately for the angler, the fish always comes
with a furious rush, and gulps the bait at once, when
the hooks, as often as not, become fixed in the gills,
implying his certain capture provided the tackle does not
give way. This last misfortune is quite likely to occur
should there be the slightest flaw in the line, tracing or
hooks. On the whole, I doubt if there be a fish in the
world which for its size can put up so game a fight. A
five-pound tiger fish may give from twenty minutes to
half g.n hour's hard play, if one is using a twelve-foot
trout rod. How long would it take to land a trout or
grilse of the same size, using similar tackle ?

When the fish are not hungry, they will follow the
spoon and smell at it ; it is then a good thing to place
a small piece of raw meat or a fish-scale on the tail hook.
Raw meat or fish alone is sometimes used as a bait, and
I once hooked and landed a small one, using a red salmon
fly with silver binding ; but though I often tried, I was
never again successful in getting a tiger fish to take a fly.
Given that they are hungry, numerous, and of fair size,
there are few amusements more enjoyable and exciting
than the pursuit of tiger fish, and I shall always look
back to a dav on the Olifants when I landed a dozen and

122 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

a half, scaling between two and five pounds, as a red-
letter day in my fishing experiences.

The best time to fish is from about half an hour after
sunrise up to about ten o'clock, and again from about
four o'clock until sunset. During the winter months,
when the water is cold, they do not take well, and again,
after the commencement of the rains, the discoloured
rivers bring down such quantities of food, and render
the capture of other finny prey so easy that it is pure
chance if they will even notice your bait. In south-east
Africa the best period probably is from the beginning of
August until the end of October ; but sport may be
obtained at any time during the hot weather, provided
the water is clear.

However engrossed in his pursuit the angler may
become, he must not forget that he is fishing in a pool
which probably contains one or more crocodiles. The
fact of his not seeing any indications of them is no proof
that they are not present and eagerly watching him ;
so, whether in casting or in playing a fish, it is well to be
careful. Wading, even in shallow water, is sheer fool-
hardiness, and that a man may have done so on scores
of occasions with impunity does not alter the case in
the least.

Tiger fish usually prefer to kill their own food, which
consists of practically everything else that they can
overpower, and they are in no sense scavengers or bottom
feeders. Meat, to be successful as a bait, should be
fresh, as it is the smell of blood which principally attracts
them. No doubt they also devour grubs and insects
brought down by the stream, but these are always in-
ferior as baits. Big tiger fish will often rise at swallows
skimming along the surface of the water.

Perhaps following the law of nature which controls

124 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

the too great increase of predatory creatures, tiger fish
are seldom found in such numbers as the other species
which exist in the same waters. Looking from above
into a clear pool amongst the swarms of yellow fish and
smaller fry of all kinds, at most two or three large tiger
fish, and a few smaller ones, are to be seen cruising about
like men-of-war among a lot of merchantmen and
fishing craft.

They are excellent eating when a little above three
pounds in weight, but below that size the number of
small, and apparently unattached, bones present is a
drawback.

The Barber. This curious and rather repellent-
looking creature belongs to the catfish tribe. Its enormous
bony head, flat and adorned with long feelers, is almost
equal in size to the rest of its body. It is one of the
best known fish in Africa, and attains a length of four
or five feet. Unlike the tiger fish, it is a bottom feeder,
a lover of deep, still holes, with muddy groundwork.
It can be caught with any kind of ground bait, and I have
sometimes been successful with the spoon, and once with
a salmon fly. When hooked, it makes a tremendous
rush, which, when a large fish is concerned, strains rod
and tackle to the utmost ; but after this it usually settles
down to sulk, seeking the bottom and burying its nose
in the mud. A strain on the line may induce another
long run, and it will do its best to tangle the line in any
drift wood, weeds, or debris collected under the water.
If kept on the move, its efforts soon become less strenuous
and it can be drawn ashore ; but, having got it there,
the angler's difficulties are not yet at an end. In fact,
the barber is one of the most difficult creatures in ex-
istence to kiU, and the only certain way is to cut off his
head. If this is not done, he will probably manage to

THE BARBER 125

wriggle back into the water, though laid on the bank
yards away from it.

The barber is really not very far removed from being
an amphibious animal, for he is able to live for hours
completely out of the water, and if placed in a bucket
or basket with plenty of wet grass, there appears to be
no limit to the period he can exist. When the forest pools
dry up in the winter, barbers often bury themselves
completely in the mud, and hibernate until the next
rainy season arrives. Thus quite large bags can be
made by digging in pools which contain nothing but
mud and ooze. Several species occur in south Africa.
The flesh is fairly good eating if well cooked ; but if
merely boiled, it is very dry and tasteless.

Probably the largest family of all the south African
fishes comprises the various kinds of barbel (which must
not be confused with the barber or catfish mentioned
above), the carps, breams, and so called " suckers."

The barbels are very similar in appearance to the
European type of the same name. Some sixty different
kinds have been described in the annals of the South
African Museum, and they are of all sizes from only a
few inches up to nearly a foot in length. Most of them
have little appendages hanging from the jaws which give
them their name (meaning the bearded ones). One kind,
when lifted, stings the hand like a bunch of nettles.

The curious fishes, locally called suckers, also run into
a large number of species. Their mouths are very much
on the underside of the jaw, and they possess thick
rubbery lips forming a sort of adhesive pad which enables
the owner to hang on to the rocks and stones from which
no doubt he sucks the lichens and other vegetable food
which form his food. A species very common in the
Sabi River, Transvaal, attains quite six pounds weight (at

126 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

least I have shot them up to that size — I never succeeded
in catching any). These queer fish hke to attach them-
selves to the rocks at the sides of very deep and swift
running streams, in which position, and about a foot or
two beneath the surface, they will remain for hours. They
have no teeth.

The Yellow Fish. This is the commonest fish of
south Africa, and is found in water at all elevations.
It grows to a large size, having been taken up to as much
as thirty pounds weight on the Vaal River. It is rather
a well-shaped fish, with large yellow scales. It is most
easily captured with dough or paste, and, though naturally
a bottom feeder, can sometimes be taken with an or-
dinary trout fly. It gives fairly good play, and is good
eating. The best time to fish for it is from August to
about May. In the Transvaal low country the spawning
season takes place during the warm weather and, like
those of most other local fish, the majority of the young
fry are to be seen about the end of the rainy season.

There are a great many other and usually smaller carp
and perch-like fishes which have scientific, but I think
very few of them European names. The local natives
have of course terms for the majority of them.

Towards the end of the dry season, the pools in the
smaller rivers (which do not run all the year round)
shrink to very small dimensions, and the number of fish
cooped up in a few feet of muddy water is wonderful.
This is the chance of the natives, coinciding as it does
with the period when food is becoming scarce in the
kraals. The women, laden with wickerwork fishing
baskets, repair to the pools and scoop the unfortunate
fish into their baskets and out on to the banks, literally
in armfuls. In larger pools the fish are often driven by
a line of men, boys, and women wading knee deep, into

THE YELLOW FISH 127

a line of basket traps skilfully prepared for them at one
end of the pool. On these occasions everything of edible
size is taken home, but the very small fry are left on the
bank to die or flap back into the water according to
whether their luck is in or out. The variety of the catch
is sometimes amazing. Many of the fish however, no
doubt profiting by previous experience, are able to bury
themselves temporarily in the mud, and so escape ; at
any rate, there always seem to be a good many left the
day after even the most strenuous hunt.

Sometimes there is a crocodile in the pool ; indeed, if
it is more than three feet deep in any part there is quite
likely to be one. The prospect of such an unpleasant
denizen being present does not seem to deter the ladies
in the least ; but if he shows himself there is a wild scurry
for the bank. On one occasion about twenty women
and small girls from some neighbouring villages were
taking fish from a pool in the Manzemntonto River, The
pool was about thirty yards each way and about two feet
deep in most parts except in one end where under an
overhanging bank there was a small hole about five feet
deep. As it happened this was the lair of a crocodile
some eight feet long. The people had of course seen the
tracks on the banks, but with true native apathy per-
suaded themselves that he had gone away, or that he
would be frightened of the noise. Anyhow the fishing
was at its height ; every one was shouting and splashing
through the water ; when the crocodile, which must have
cither been particularly hungry, or an exceptionally
bold specimen of his tribe, having approached under
cover of the mud stirred up, suddenly seized by the leg
a woman who was somewhat apart from her companions,
and close to the deep water. There was a tremendous
commotion. A couple of men who were there to look

128 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA

after the safety of their women folk, and were sitting
on the bank close by, at once leaped in, and stabbed the
crocodile about the eyes with their spears. The reptile,
thus attacked, seemed to lose his head, let go the woman
he was holding, and proceeded to dash about through the
shallow water of the pool with his mouth open. The
men pluckily chased him, but he had apparently had
enough for the day, and having found his bit of deep
water again, disappeared from sight. The woman was
not much the worse for her experience, but it put an end
to the fishing for that day.

In the Transvaal low country there are two types of
eels, one is much like the ordinary fresh water European
eel, the other considerably larger.

Of the vast number of different kinds of fishes in-
habiting the temperate and sub-tropical waters of south
Africa, it is possible to give but the merest outline.
Many of them appear quite indifferent to the ordinary
lures of the angler, and except among natives catches
are but little likely to be seen by the white man who is
not specially looking for them. It is quite worth while
looking through a native catch, as you will probably see
some most remarkable looking creatures.

The great African lakes are full of a vast multitude
of fish, and a day on Lake Nyasa resulted in the catching
of at least six different species, of the names of which, I
regret to say, I was, and am, entirely ignorant.

APPENDIX

SOUTH AFRICAN BIRDS
(Families as per Gunning and Haagner 1910)

CLASS AVES

Sub-class RA TITM (no keel to breast bone)
Order STRUTHIONES
Family struthionid^e

GENUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND
S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Struthio

australis

Southern Ostrich
{Struisvogel)

Sub-class CARINATM (keel to breast bone)

Order IMPENNES

Family spheniscid.e

Spheniscus demersus Jackass Penguin

{Penguin)

Order PYGOPODES

Family colymbid^

Colymbus cristatus Crested Grebe

{Zanddrijver)
nigricellis Eared Grebe

{Kleine Zanddrijver)
,, capensis Cape Dabchick

{Duikertje)
BOOK III 129 I

130 APPENDIX

Order TUBINARES

(Albatrosses, MoUymawks, and Petrels)

Family procellariid^. Fourteen genera divided into
twenty-seven species.

Order GAVI^
(Skuas, Gulls, and Terns)
Family larid^. Six genera and twenty-one species.

Order STEGANOPODES

Family sulid^

GENUS

Sula

SPECIES

• capensis

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Malagash

{Kaapse Stommerik)

>>

cyanops

Masked Booby

(Blauwoog Stommerik)

"

sula

Brown Booby

[Bruine Stommerik)

Family phalacrocoracid.e

Phalacrocorax

lucidus

White-Breasted Duiker
{Wit horstaalscholver
of duiker)

"

neglectus

Bank Cormorant
{Bank duiker)

"

capensis

Cape Cormorant
{Trek aalscholver of
duiker)

>»

africanus

Reed Cormorant

{Afrikaanse aalscholver
of riet duiker)

Anhinga

rufa

Snake Bird

{Slanghalsvogel)

APPENDIX

131

GENUS

Pelecanus

Family pelecanid^

SPECIES ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

nscus
rufescens

Eastern White Pelican

[Grote pelikaan)
Pink-Backed Pelican

{Roodrug pelikaan)

Order ANSERES
Family anatid^

Erismatura

ma ceo a

Maccoa Duck

[Maccow eend)

Thalassornis

leuconotus

. White-Backed Duck
{Witnig eend)

Nyroca

capensis

South African Pochard

{Bruine eend)

Spatula

clypeata

European Shoveller
{Slop)

"

capensis

Cape Shoveller
{Kaapse slop)

A nas

undulata

Yellow-Billed Duck

{Geelbek eend)

»j

sparsa

Black Duck

{Zwarte eend)

>>

erythrorhyncha

Red-Billed Teal

[Roodbek eend)

ti

capensis

Cape Widgeon

[Kaapse smee-eend)

It

punctata

Hottentot Teal
[Gevlekte eend)

Dendrocygna

viduata

White-Faced Duck

[Nonnetje eend]

"

fulva

Whistling Duck
(Fluit eendtje)

Nettapus

auritus

Dwarf Goose

[Dwerg gans)

Sarkidiornis

melanotus

Knob-Billed Duck

{Knobbel eend)

132

GENUS

APPENDIX

Chenalopex cegyptiacus
Plectropterus gambensis

Casarca

cana

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Egyptian Goose

(Nijlgans of Berg gans)
' Spur- Winged Goose

{Sporin gans of wilde
makauw)
South African Sheldrake
(Berg eend)

Order LIMICOL^

Family charadriid^ (Oyster Catchers, Pratincoles,
Coursers, Plovers, Lapwings, and Thick-Knees or Dikkops).
Thirteen genera and twenty-nine species;

Family dromadid^e

Dromas ardeola Crab Plover

{Krabbe kieviet)

Family scolopacid^ (Curlews, Greenshanks, Redshanks,
Sandpipers, and Snipe). Ten genera and thirty-two species.

Order ALECTORIDES

Otis

Family

OTIDID^

kori

Giant Bustard

cafra

ludwigi

vigorsi

(Gompauw)
Stanley Bustard

{Veld pauw)
Lud wig's Bustard

{Ludwigs pauw)
Black-Throated Bustard

•

barrowi

{Vaal koraan)
Natal Bustard

ccerulescens

{Natal koraan)
Blue Bustard

ruppelli

(Blauwe koraan)
Ruppell's Bustard
{Blauwkop koraan)

APPENDIX 133

SPECIES ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Otis

ruflcrista

Red-Crested Bustard
[Bos koraan)

>>

afroides

White-Quilled Bustard

{Witvleugel koraan)

y>

afra

Black Bustard

{Zwarte koraan)

t>

melanogaster

Black-Bellied Bustard

{Zwartpens koraan)

Family

GRUID^

Bugeranus

carunculatus

Wattled Crane
[Lelkraan)

Anthropoides

paradisea

Blue Crane
{Blauwe kraanvogel)

Balearica

regulorum

Crowned Crane
{Kroon kraan of M ahem)

Order FULICARI^

Family jacanid^

A ctophilus

africanus

African Jacana
{Langtoon)

Microparra

capensis

Lesser Jacana

{Kleine langtoon)
Family rallid^e (Rails, Coots, Moorhens, Crakes, and
Finfoot). Ten genera and sixteen species.

Order HEMIPODII

Family turnicid^

Turnix lepurana Kurrichane Button Quail

{Kurrichane riet
kwartel)
,, nana Natal Button Quail

{Natal riet kwartel)
„ hottentotta Hottentot Button Quail

{Kaapse riet kwartel)

134

APPENDIX

Order PTEROCLETES
Family pteroclid^

GENUS

Pterocles

SPECIES

gutturalis

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Yellow-Throated Sand-

»»

u

variegatus
bicinctus

grouse

{Nacht patrijs)
Spotted Sandgrouse

{Gele zandpatrijs)
Double Banded Sand-

Ptereclurus

namaquus

grouse
{Dubbel gebande zand-
patrijs)
Namaqua Sandgrouse
{Namaqua patrijs)

Order HERODIONES

Family

IBIDM

Ibis
Geronticus

cBthiepica
calvus

Sacred Ibis

{Heilige ibis)
Bald Ibis

Theristicus

hagedash

(Wilde kalkoen)
Green Ibis or Hadada

Plegadis
Platelea

autumnalis
alba

{Groene ibis)
Glossy Ibis

{Glans ibis)
Spoonbill

{Lepelaar)

Family ciconiid^

Tantalus ibis Wood Ibis

{Nimmerzat)

Anastomus lamelligerus Openbill

{Openbek)

Lepiophilos crumenifer Marabou Stork

{Afrikaanse marabou)

APPENDIX

135

GENUS

Ephippior-

SPECIES

senegalensis

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAME

Saddlebill

hynchus

(Zadelbek)

Ahdimia

ahdimii

White-BeUied Stork
{Groenbek ooievaar)

Ciconia

ciconia

White Stork
{Witte ooievaar)

>j

nigra

Black Stork

[Zwarte ooievaar)

Dissoura

microscelis

Woolly-Neck Stork
{Wolnek ooievaar)

Family phgenicopterid^

Phcenicopterus

roscus

Greater Flamingo
{Grote flamingo of
Vogelmink)

>>

minor

Lesser Flamingo
{Kleine flamingo)

Family

SCOPID^

Scopus

umbretta

Hammerhead

{Hamerkop)

Family

ARDEID^

Nydicorax

nydicorax

Night Heron

{Nacht reiger of kwak)

"

leuconotus

White-Backed Night
Heron
{Witrug nacht reiger)

Botaurus

stellaris capensis Cape Bittern

{Kaapse roerdomp)

Arietta

minuta

European Little Bittern

(Woudaapje)

"

payesi

Red-Necked Little
Bittern
{Roodnek woudaapje)

136

APPENDIX

GBNUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAJ

Ar delta

sturmi

African Dwarf Bittern
{Dwerg reigertje)

Erythrocnus

rufiventris

Rufous-Bellied Heron

{Roodbuik reigertje)

Butorides

atricapillus

Green-Backed Heron
{Groonrug reigertje)

Melanophoyx

ardesiaca

Black Heron

{Zwarte reiger)

»»

vinauigula

Red- Throated Heron
{Roodkeel reiger)

Ardeola

ralloides

Squacco Heron
{Ral reiger)

Ardea

goliath

Goliath Heron
{Reuzen reiger)

ft

purpurea

Purple Heron
{Roode reiger)

»

cinerea

Grey Heron
{Blaiiwe reiger)

»»

melanocephala

Black- Headed Heron

{Zwarthop reiger)

Bubulcus

ibis

Cattle Egret
{Bosluis vogel)

Herodias

garzetta

Little Egret

{Kleine Zilver reiget

"

alba

Large White Egret
{Grote Zilver reiger)

»

brachyrhyncha

Yellow-Billed Egret
{Kortbek reiger)

Vinage

Columba

Order COLUMB.E

Family columbid^

delalandei

schalowi

phoeonota

Cape Fruit Pigeon

{Kaapse papegaai duif)
Northern Fruit Pigeon

{Groone papegaai duif)
Rock Pigeon

(Bos duif)

APPENDIX 137

GENtfS

SPECIES ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Columha

atquatrix

Olive Pigeon
{Oliven duif)

Turtur

senegalensis

Laughing Dove
{Lemoen duifje)

"

semitorquatus

Red-Eyed Turtle Dove

{Grote tortel duif)

"

capicola

Cape Turtle Dove
{Kaapse tortel duif)

„

capicola damarensis

Damara Turtle Dove

»-

{Damara tortel duif)

»»

capicola tropicus

Tropical Turtle Dove

{Tropise tortel duif)

>>

ambiguus

White-Bellied Turtle
Dove

{Witpens tortel duif)

Turturoena

delagorguei

Crimson- Winged Pigeon
{Roodvleugel duif)

Apiopelia

laroata

Cinnamon Dove
{Kaneel duifje)

Tympanistria

tympanistria

Tambourine Dove
(Witborst duifje)

Chalcopelia

afra

MetalUc-Spotted Dove
[Staalvlek duifje)

*>

afra volkmanni

Damara Metallic-Spotted
Dove
{Damara Staalvlek
duifje)

(Ena

capensis

Namaqua Dove
{Namaqua duifje)

Order GALLIN^E

Family phasianid^

Numida coronata- Crowned Guinea Fowl

{Wilde tarentaal)
„ mitrata East African Guinea

Fowl
{Oostelijke tarentaal)

138

APPENDIX

GENUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND S.A.DUTCH NAMES

Numida

papulosa

Damara Guinea Fowl
{Damara tarentaal)

Guttera

cristata edouardi

Crested Guinea Fowl
{Kuifkop tarentaal)

ft

lividicollis ghigi

Pale-Necked Crested
Guinea Fowl
[Zambezi kuifkop
tarentaal)

Pternistes

swainseni

Northern Red-Necked
Bheasant
[Bosveld fazant)

»

nudicollis

Southern Red-Necked
Pheasant
(Kaapse bos fazant)

"

humboldti

White-Ringed Pheasant
( Witring fazant)

Francolinus

capensis

Noisy or Cape Francolin
(Kaapse patrijs)

»»

adspersus

Red-Billed Francohn
[Roodbek patrijs)

ft

natalensis

Natal Francolin
[Natal fazant)

It

levaillanti

Cape Red- Wing
[Roodvleugel patrijs)

ft

afer

Grey- Wing
[Berg patrijs)

ft

gariepensis

Orange River Francolin

[Vrijstaat patrijs)

ft

jugularis pallidior

Eriksson's Francolin
[Eriksson's patrijs)

It

shelleyi

Shelley's Francolin
[Shelley's patrijs)

••

coqui

Coqui

[Swempie)

"

sephoena

Crowned Francolin
[Kuifkop patrijs)

It

kirki

Kirk's Francolin
[Kirk's patrijs)

APPENDIX I

GENUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAJ

Coturnix

coturnix africana African Quail

{Kwartel)

it

delagorguei

Harlequin Quail

{Bonte kwartel)

Excalfadofia

adansoni

Blue Quail

(Blauwe kwartel)

Order ACCIPITRES

(Birds

of Prey)

Family

VULTURID^

Ogotyps

auricularis

Black Vulture

{Zwarte aasvogel)

Lophogyps

occipitalis

White-Headed Vulture

{Witkop aasvogel)

Gyps

kolhei

Griffen Vulture
{Gewone aasvogel)

"

ruppelli

Ruppell's Vulture
{Riippell's aasvogel)

Pseudogyps

africanus

White-Backed Vulture
{Witrug aasvogel)

Neophron

percnopterus

Eg5q5tian Vulture
(Egyptise aasvogel)

t>

monachus

Hooded Vulture
{Monnik aasvogel)

Family

FALCON IDiE

Serpentarius

serpentarius

Secretary Bird
{Slangenvreter)

Polyhoroides

typicus

Harrier Hawk

{Grote hlauw havik)

Circus

pygargus

Montague's Harrier
{Blauwe kuikendief)

>i

. macrourus

Pallid Harrier
{Vale kuikendief)

j:

maurus

Black Harrier

{Zwarte kuikendief)

139

140

APPENDIX

GENUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND S.A.DUTCH NAMES

Circus

cBruginosus

Marsh Harrier

{Bruine kuikendief)

>»

ranivorus

South African Harrier

(Paddavreier)

Melierax

canorus

Chanting Goshawk
{Grote blauw valk)

>>

mechowi

Mechow's Goshawk
{Donkere blauw valk)

Kaupifalco

monogrammicus

African Buzzard Eagle
{Blauwe streep valk)

,,

monogrammicus

Northern Buzzard Eagle

meridionalis

{Nordelike blauwe
streep valk)

Astur

melanoleucus

Black Sparrow Hawk

{Bonte sperwer)

It

iachiro

African Goshawk

{Zuidafrikaanse havik)

>i

polyzonoides

Little Banded Goshawk

{Veelbanaige havik)

Accipiter

ovampensis

Ovampo Sparrow Hawk

{Ovampo sperwer)

>i

rufiventris

Red-Breasted Sparrow
Hawk

{Afrikaanse sperwer)

»

minullus

Little Sparrow Hawk

{Klein e sperwer)

»»

minullus tropicalis

Pale Pittle Sparrow Hawk

{Noordehke kleine
sperwer)

Micronisus

gabar

Gabar Goshawk
{Kleine blauwvalk)

>t

niger

Black Goshawk

{Zwarte valkje)

CirccBtus

peciofalis

Black-Breasted Harrier
Eagle

(Uilarend)

»»

fasciolatus

Banded Harrier Eagle
{Gebandi uilarend)

APPENDIX 1.4:

GENUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAME:

Spizcetus

hellicosus

Martial Hawk Eagle
[Breedkop arend)

'•

coronatus ■

Crowned Hawk Eagle

{Gekroonde arend)

Hieraaetus

spilogaster

African Hawk Eagle
{Hoender jager)

"

pennatus

Booted Eagle

[Dwerg arend)

"

wahlbergi

Brown Eagle

{Bruine arend)

LophocBtus

occipitalis

Crested Hawk Eagle
{Kuifkop arend)

Aquila

verreauxi

Black Eagle
{Dassie vanger)

tt

rapax

Tawny Eagle
{Kouwvogel)

Buteo

jakal

Jackal Buzzard

{J akhalsvogel)

It

augur

Augur Buzzard

{Zwartrug huizerd)

"

desertorum

Steppe Buzzard
{Vale huizerd)

MachcB-

anderssoni

Anderson's Pern

rhamphus

{Damara wespindief)

Helotarsus

ecaudatus

Bateleur

(Berghaan)

Gypatus

ossifragus

Southern Lammergeyer

meridionalis

{Afrikaanse
lammergier)

Gy pokier ax

angolensis

Vulturine Sea Eagle
{Bonte zee arend)

Halicetus

vocifer

Sea Eagle or Fish Eagle
{Zee arend)

Pandion

halicetus

Osprey
{Vis arend)

Milvus

cBgyptius

Eg5q)tian or Yellow-
Billed Kite
{Geelbek wouw)

142

APPENDIX

GENUS

SPECIES

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Milviis

korschun

Black Kite

{Zwarte wouxv)

Pernis

apivorus

Pern

{Wespendiet)

Elanus

CCBTUleUS

Black-Shouldered Kite
{Bliuw Volkje)

Baza

verreauxi

Cuckoo Falcon
{Koekoekvalk)

Falco

peregrinus

Peregrine Falcon

[Slecht valk)

>)

minor

South African Peregrine
Falcon

{Kleine slecht valk)

it

hiarmicus

South African Lanner

{Zuidafrikaanse
edelvalk)

>»

subbuteo

Hobby

{Boomvalk)

. ft

cuvieri

African Hobby

{Afrikaanse boomvalk)

"

ruficollis

Red-Necked Falcon

{Roodnek valk)

Cerchneis

vespertina

Western Red-Necked
Kestrel
{Roodpoot valk) .

>i

amurensis

Eastern Red-Legged
Kestrel
{Oostelike Roodpoot
valk)

n

dickensoni

Dickenson's Kestrel

{Dickenson's valkje)

"

*'rupicoloidei

Large African Kestrel
{Grote tor en valk)

It

rupicola

South African Kestrel
(Toren valk of rood
valk)

n

naumanm

Lesser Kestrel
{Kleine toren valk)

APPENDIX 143

GENUS

Poliohierax

SPECIES I

semitorquatus

ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMl

Pigmy Falcon
{Dwerg valkje)

Family strigid^

Scotopelia

pelt

Pel's Fishing Owl
(Vis uil)

Bubo

lacteus

Giant Eagle Owl

(Reuzen ooruil)

n

ascalaphus trothce

Damara Eagle Owl

[Damara ooruil)

>>

capensis

Cape Eagle Owl
[Kaapse ooruil)

»

maculosus

Spotted Eagle Owl
{Gevlekte ooruil)

Asio

nisuella

Marsh Owl

{Vlei uil)

>>

leucotis erlangeri

White-Faced Owl

(Witwanguil)

Pisorhina

capensis

Cape Scops Owl
{Kleine ooruil)

Syrnium

woodfordi

Bush Owl

{Bos uil)

Glaucidium

capense

Barred Owlet
{Gestreepte uiltje)

"

perlatum

Pearl-Spotted Owlet

{Parel uiltje)

Strix

flammea maculata

Cape Barn Owl

{Kaapse kerkuil)
Grass #wl

>i

capensis

{Gras uil)

Order PSITTACI

Family PSiTTACiDiE

Poicephalus

rohustus

Red-Shouldered Parrot
{Grate papegaai)

suahelicus Red-Crowned Parrot
{Roodkop papegaai)

144

APPENDIX

GENUS

SPECIES

[ENGLISH AND S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Poicephalus

meyeri

Meyer's Parrot
{Meyer's papegaai)

»

ruppelli

Brown Parrot

{Bruine papegaai)

n

fuscicapillus

Brown- Headed Parrot
{Bruine kop papegaai)

Agapornis

roseicollis

Rosy-Faced Lovebird

{Roodkop parakiet)

>>

nigrigenis

Black-Faced Lovebird
{Zwartwang parakiet)

y>

liliancB

Nyasa Lovebird
{Nyasa parakiet)

Order PICARI.E
Sub-order COCCYGE"^
Family musophagid^

Chizcerhis

concolor

Grey Lourie

{Kweevogel)

Gallifex

chlorochlamys

Zambezi Purple- Crested
Lourie

{Zambezi blaukuif
loerie)

»

porphyreolophus

Purple-Crested Lourie
{Blaukuif loerie)

TurcBus

corythaix

Cape Lourie

m

{Gewone loerie)

„ phcebtis

Transvaal Lourie

{Transvaalse loerie)

»$

livingstonei

Livingstone's Lourie
{Livingstone loerie)

>>

reichenowi

Reichenow's Lourie
{Reichenow's loerie)

Family cuculid^ (Bush Cuckoos or Coucals and Cuckoos).
Six genera and nineteen species.

APPENDIX 145

Sub-order ZYGODACTYLI

Family indicatorid^ (Honey Guides). Two genera and
five species.

Family capitondid.*: (Barbels and Tinkerbirds). Five
genera and eleven species.

Family picid^ (Wrynecks and Woodpeckers) . Five genera
and twelve species.

Sub-order ANISODACTYLI

Family coLiiDiE (Mousebirds or Colies). One genus, seven
species.

Family xROGONiDiE

ENGLISH AND
GENUS SPECIES S.A. DUTCH NAMES

Apaloderma narina Narina Trogon

{Bos loerie)

Family coraciid^ (Rollers). Two genera and seven
species.

Family bucerotid^ (Hornbills). Three genera and nine
species.

Family alcedinid^e (Kingfishers). Five genera and ten
species.

Family MEROPiDyE (Bee-Eaters). Four genera and seven
species.

Sub-order UPUPI

Family L'pupid/E (Hoopoes). Three genera and four
species.

Family caprimulgid^e (Nightjars). Two genera and eight
species.

Sub-order CYPSKLI

Family MACROPTERYOiDi^ (Swifts). Three genera and
nine species.

146 APPENDIX

Order PASSERES (or Perching Birds)

Family FmiBAi. (Long-Winged Pitta). One genus and
species.

Family hirundiniid.^ (Swallows). Five genera and
eighteen species.

Family muscicapid.^ (Flycatchers). Eighteen genera and
thirty-four species.

Family CAMPEPHAGiDiE (Cuckoo Shrikes). Two genera
and four species.

Family laniid.i; (Shrikes). Thirteen genera and twenty-
nine species.

Family corvid^ (Crows, Rooks, and Ravens). Three
genera and three species.

Family dicrurid^ (Drongos). One genus and two species.

Family oriolid^ (Orioles). One genus and three species.

Family sturnid^ (Oxpeckers and Starlings). Eight genera
and fourteen species.

Family ploceid^ (Weaver Birds). Seven genera and
twenty-three species.

Family spermestin^ (Weaver Finches, Bishop Birds.
Widow Birds, Waxbills, and Widow Finches). Twenty-one
genera and forty-four species.

Family fringillid.e (Sparrows, Finches, Canaries, Seed-
Eaters, and Buntings). Eleven genera and thirty species.

Family motacillid^ (Wagtails, Pipits, and Longclaws).
Five genera and nineteen species.

Family alaudid^e (Larks). Ten genera and twenty-nine
species.

Family pycnonotid>e (Bulbuls). Three genera and eleven
species.

Family zosteropid.^ (White-Eyes). One genus, six
species.

Family nectariniida (Sun Birds and Sugar Birds). Five
genera and twenty-five species.

Family certhiid.e (Spotted Creeper). One genus and
species.

Family PARiiDiE (Tits, Titbabblers) . Three genera and
twelve species.

APPENDIX 147

Family sylviid^ (Grass Birds and Warblers). Twenty-
one genera and seventy-four species.

Family turdid^ (Babblers, Chat- Warblers, Rock-Jumpers,
Thrushes, Chats, Robins, and Nightingales). Nineteen genera
and fifty-one species.

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