The Birds of South Africa 250 



a lot of poultry, with which it lived in perfect harmony. Another 

 anomalous African form is known as the umbre (Scopus umbretta), 

 which Professor Schlegel considers to be a stork, while Professor 

 Sundeval regards it as immediately related to the Balceniceps, 

 another strange African genus, which latter (in our humble opinion) 

 is more nearly akin to the South American boatbill (Cancroma). 

 The " strange antics" which it performs, according to Mr Layard, 

 recall to mind those of the kagu (Rhynochoetus jubatus) of New 

 Caledonia. 



" The hammerkop (literally, 'hammer-head') is found throughout the colony, 

 and all the way to the Zambezi, frequenting ponds, marshes, rivers, and lakes. 

 It is a strange, weird bird, flitting about with great activity in the dusk of the 

 evening, and preying upon frogs, small fish, &c. At times, when two or three 

 are feeding in the same small pool, they will execute a singular dance, skipping 

 round one another, opening and closing their wings, and performing strange 

 antics. They breed on trees and on rocky ledges, forming a huge structure of 

 sticks, some of them of considerable thickness. These nests are so solid, that 

 they will bear the weight of a large heavy man on the domed roof without 

 collapsing. The entrance is a small hole, generally placed in the most in- 

 accessible side. The eggs, three to four in number, are pure white. On my 

 late friend Jackson's fann, at Nel's Point, there is a singular rocky glen between 

 two hills. In this spot, a beautiful permanent spring, called 'Jackals' fontein,' 

 takes its rise. Of course, in consequence, there are a few wild almond and 

 other trees, and the place is a little oasis amid the barren mountains. It is a 

 favourite resort of wild animals, hyenas, leopards, jackals, &c., and here Mr 

 Jackson has constructed one of his most successful hyena-traps. On the ledges 

 of the rocks in this secluded spot, a colony of 'hammerkops' have built for 

 years. Some of the nests are quite inaccessible, while others can be reached 

 with a little trouble. I counted six or eight within 50 yards, all exhibiting the 

 same form and structure, and some of them containing at least a cartload of 

 sticks. Mr Jackson told me they occupied the same nest year after year, and 

 added to it or repaired it as required. About some that I visited, I found brass 

 and bone buttons, bits of crockery, bleached bones, &c. Mr Jackson said, if a 

 ' Tottie' lost his knife or tinder-box on the farm, or within some miles of the 

 place, he made a point of examining the ' hammerkops' ' nests, and frequently 

 with success ; the birds, like the bower-birds of Australia, embellishing their 

 dwellings with any glittering or bright-coloured thing they can pick up. In the 

 Karoo, between Worcester and Robertson, I saw a nest placed on the ground 

 on the side of a trifling rise ; it was at least 3 yards in length, by i^ across, 

 with a small entrance hole at one end." 



If the Guachos of the South American Pampas happen to lose 

 any small object, they search the entrances to the burrows of the 

 viscachas about the neighbourhood, and Mr Danvin relates an 

 instance of a gentleman having thus found his watch, which he 



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