THE OSPREY. 



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X'di.ime 2. 



NOVEMBER, J 897. 



Number 'J. 



soMH bikijs of thh uakk continhnt 



1). c;. EI. MOT, K. K. S. E. 



FHICA is certainly the land of birds, and 

 never was I more thoroughly im- 

 pressed with this fact than during 

 m\ last journes through So- 

 maliland. The feathered 

 tribes fairly swarmed, from 

 the lordly eagle, at whose ad- 

 \ent. as in other lands, all 

 winged creatures respectfully 

 retired, to the restless Sun- 

 birds, in their livery irides- 

 cent with purple and gold, flashing like rainbow- 

 meteors amid the deep green foliage. In every place 

 throughout our long journey birds gladdened the 

 landscape with their presence, and decorated the for- 

 est with their variegated plumage. Yet one thing was 

 lacking, for with all this active life of fairy creatures 

 there was the absence of melody and song. Few 

 .\frican birds possess the gift with which some of 

 their plainer brethren in other lands are so richly 

 endowed, and harsh strident voices res(^unded on 

 every side. The power of some of these bird throats 

 was extraordinars . and J remember once watching 

 the movements of a little black bird not much longer 

 than my finger, when suddenly he ran out to the end 

 of a twig and uttered a cry that in its disagreeable 

 tone and volume of sound would have been creditable 

 to a fog horn Where he kept all that noise pent up 

 was a marvel, but it did not seem to incommode him 

 in the least to carry it al)out, nor was he any smaller 

 after he had gotten rid of it. 



The tameness of all these feathered creatures 

 caused surprise, and it never seemed to occur to them 

 that man was an enemy. And strange as it may ap- 

 pear to us, this was really a happy fact, for the na- 

 tives never kill a bird, not even those belonging to 

 the I'crdiiidii or Partridge group, which are good 

 for food. No murderous collectors, intent upon the 

 slaughter of the last survivmg bird to decorate (?) 

 with its feathers some woman's hat, has ever invaded 

 the land, and I am glad to think it will be a long 

 while before he does, for in these days while he is 

 hunting birds there are both two-footed and four- 

 footed animals that will hunt him, so the risk may be 



regarded as greater than any probable profit, and the 

 birds are left in peace. 



The natives would wonder win we took so much 

 pains with the few birds we killed and could not un- 

 derstand our interest in them. To them all the great 

 variety of feathered forms constanth in view, were 

 only 'birds,' and that expressed the beginning and 

 end of the whole matter and was not worthy of farther 

 attention. 



To illustrate the tameness exhibited and the con- 

 fidence in man shown b}' the feathered tribes I will 

 cite an incident observed b\ me. Some meat from 

 one of the animals the men had been skinning was 

 thrown outside the camp, and I went out to rest in 

 the shade near by. Soon a vulture hovering near 

 espied the meat, and rapidly descending alighted close 

 by and walked up to the treasure-trove. A vulture 

 cannot make any unusual motion without his brethren 

 perceive it and hasten to investigate the cause, and 

 so he was immediately followed by others. The in- 

 quisitive crows then began to arrive, and with the 

 impudence of the race the\ would sidle up to the 

 vultures and steal the pieces of meat the large birds 

 had torn awav from the bones. New arrivals kept 

 coming to the feast until the ground was covered 

 with active struggling forms. Suddenly a shadow 

 fell upon the mass of birds, and heralded b\ the 

 sound of wings, an eagle swooped down and landed 

 in their midst. The other birds recognized their 

 master and hurriedly gave way, as with awkward 

 hops he advanced to the meat and began to tear it 

 apart. He was soon followed by a number of other 

 eagles of various species and ages which entered the 

 circle in the same haughty defiant way. The vul- 

 tures kept aloof as did a number of hawks, only oc- 

 casionally attempting to capture a bit of the coveted 

 repast: the crows alone, having recovered their cour- 

 age, daring to carry on their pilfering ways even 

 among the eagles themselves. Soon there must have 

 been one hundred present of all sorts, and all this 

 time I was lying on the grass, in full view not six feet 

 awav from the nearest birds. Occasionally a crow 

 would cock his head on one side and scrutinize me 

 for a moment, wondering no doubt why I did not join 



