Letters, Announcements, ^c. 475 



time not having elapsed since its arrival at the fort for so 

 complete a nest to have been manufactured. 



" When I bought remount horses I always immediately 

 cut their tails shorty so that I could easily distinguish them, 

 when grazing during the day, from other horses belonging to 

 civilians and others ; and when squaring this cob's tail with 

 scissors, I remarked to Capt. Becher, who was with me, that 

 the tail was peculiarly matted and curled, and therefore very 

 difficult to cut quickly. The cob was driven, with a string 

 of others, by Zulus from Wakkerstroom to our camp, about 

 five days' journey. 



" The following officers saw and examined the nest, and 

 were as much astonished as I was, viz. : — Col. Alexander, 

 Capts, Benthall and Becher, Adjutant Nicholas, and Quar- 

 termaster Murphy, of the K. D. G.^s; Capts. Knox and 

 Sharp, and Lieut. Ridley, of the 4th (King's Own) . I wrote 

 this account at the time ; but circumstances delayed its pub- 

 lication. The cob, after the nest was discovered, was, 

 unfortunately, sent away with several others to fill up our 

 casualties at the front, and is reported to have died near 

 Fort Newdigate. 



" As a twig of any sort, to say nothing of a tree, is quite 

 a rare thing to see in many parts of the Transvaal and Zulu- 

 land, and as the nights are particularly cold, I can quite 

 understand these tame little birds getting into the hair of a 

 horse's tail for warmth when the animal was lying down, 

 and, later on, taking it into their heads to make a nest in 

 such comfortable quarters." 



S. LoNGHURST, A. V. D,, K. D. Guards 

 (Meerut, Bengal), 



Pet Birds in Sumatra. — Mr. Carl Bock* speaks as follows 

 of the native pets of Sumatra. 



'' In most native houses and huts may be seen a pet of 

 some kind. The most common is a Turtle Dove [Turtur 

 tigrinus), called ' Ballam,' or in some places ' Perkoetoe.' 



* [The Ilead-Hunters of Borneo, by Carl Bock (4to, Loudon, 1881), 

 p. 298.] 



