374 J\Ir. E. L. Layard on South-African Ornithology. 



" I have other reasons for not believing the story. Why 

 should the Honey-guide waste her time in leading people to 

 leopards, jackals, wolves, and so forth ? These creatures are 

 not her natural enemies ; she would gain nothing by doing it — 

 no advantage whatever; and I have ever found that in nature 

 there is nothing done in vain, or in an empty purposeless man- 

 ner. There is always a reason for the peculiar habits and ac- 

 tions of birds and animals of all kinds ; and therefore why should 

 a bird, which does not even rear her own young, and has not 

 the care of a nest, fear or care about these animals ? Why 

 should the Honey-guide, unlike all other animals, do this thing 

 without any reason for doing it ? 



" And, again, when the bird has arrived at the nest she in- 

 tends to show, there is an alteration in the notes of her voice. 

 An old bee-hunter knows this in an instant, and knows when 

 he ought to commence searching for the nest. Now this altera- 

 tion never takes place when animals of various kinds are startled 

 in passing through the forest while following the bird. Hence 

 I conclude that she does not intend to show where these crea- 

 tures are, or the alteration in her voice would take place.'^ 



The counsel for the defence certainly makes out a strong case 

 for her clients ; and (not to mention her own) from what I know 

 of the keen powers of observation of more than one of the nine 

 brothers — men renowned throughout the country for their deeds 

 in Kaffiir wars and hunting-fields, I am forced to say I incline, 

 as chief justice sitting in review on the case, to give a verdict 

 of " not guilty ;" — Honey-guide discharged with a caution ! ! 



510. TuRTUR SEMiTORQUATUs. In mentioning this species 

 I forgot to notice Le Vaillant's " Tourterelle blonde" (pi. 268), 

 which he avers he found on the borders of Great Namaqua- 

 land, and supposes to be the origin of the European T. riso- 

 rius. I do not believe in the existence of such a bird in the 

 locality assigned to it by him, having failed to find it in any 

 of the collections formed by Andersson, Chapman, and others 

 in Otjunbinque, Damaraland, Walvisch Bay, and elsewhere, 

 though the common Cape species T. semiturquatus occurred very 

 frequently. 



