BIEDS AND INSECTS IN BUSHMAN FOLK-LORE. 



Bv D. F. Bleek. 



l^cad Jul, J 15, 1920. 



May I ask the Jielp of the members of the South African 

 Association tor the Advancement of Science in identifying- 

 various birds, beasts, insects, etc., phiyiiig a part in Bushman 

 folk-lore? The Bushmen who told the tales came from the 

 Prieska and Kenhard Districts, and from the Katkop Hills 

 in Calvinia. They could speik a little Dutch, and sometimes 

 gave a Dutch name, but often mispronounced the same, so 

 that anyone not very proIicieJit in tlie Taal would be likely 

 to write it down incorrectly. Often the men did not know 

 the Dutch word at all, and as m the Cape Peninsula much of 

 the up-country fauna and Hor-i is absent, they could not point 

 out the bird or beast meant, but only describe it. 



One story tells of the doings of the Ikwai- Uorni, a bird 

 Avhich came to the children and carried them off in a net in 

 order to roast them. The Mantis came to the rescue, and told 

 the children to call loudly tliat their mothers might hear. 

 Then when the fkwoi- fkicai was just about to roast them, 

 he instructed them how to catch hold of their persecutor and 

 put him on the hot stones instead, " for he is only a bird." 

 The narrator said this was a black bird Avitli a white bill, 

 about the size of a duiker he had seen at the breakwater. 

 What similar bird lives in the northern colony? 



Another bird, the Ikain-Ikaiii. comes and stabs young- 

 girls to death and wets its beak in their blood. The Mantis 

 has again to save them and teach them to stab tlie bird instead. 

 This bird is described as having a red bill and red legs, a 

 black back and breast. Its size is not mentioned. 



I do not think the behaviour of these birds has any 

 particular reference to their present liabits, though possibly 

 to their colouring. All these things happened long ag^o, when 

 they were people, men of the early race. 



A A-ery small bird, the kainyafnnn, was carried off by 

 the ostrich, who wished him to marry lier daughter, the 

 " yolk," because he was also yellow like the yollc. This bird 

 is common in Bushmanland, and is sometimes seen at the 

 Cape. The head and front part of the body are yellow. 



In another tale we hear how the Mantis digs in the ground 

 with his digging stick for the cells of a kind of wild bee, not 

 the common kind. These cells of sweet food he eats and gives 

 to his pet springbok to eat. This wild bee was said to be 

 called the " blennenflij " by the Dutch. Does anyone know 

 this insect? 



