Otis cseruleseens hi Captirili/. 31 



the tame ones. All that I have as yet observed were in small 

 flocks of from three to five in numhor, hut our best executed 

 manoeuvres to circumvent any were without success. 



In Woodward's ' Natal Birds ' he quotes Major Butler, 

 who, besides mentioning the fact that he reoards the Blue 

 Knorhaan as common in the vicinity of Ladysmith, also 

 states that the note resembles the words kirk-pa-wow repeated 

 several times. To my mind the harshly-uttered expression 

 hiock-me-doivn gives a clearer idea of their curious cry, and 

 doubtless the sportsman after a bad miss or lost opportunity 

 must resent the apparent jeer when his quarry vanishes 

 beyond ])ursuit. The i)air under observation also utter a soft, 

 almost inaudible, call-note, too difficult, I find, to describe 

 accurately on paper, though of late the male lias begun to 

 practice the notes described by Woodward. With reoard to 

 the hen, I believe she has attempted no others beyond those 

 to which she has always been accustomed. So tame are they 

 that one can only walk with difficulty in their run, and the 

 fearlessness they evince towards everyone is curious to 

 ■witness. Only towards the house-dog, a mongrel fox-terrier 

 do they show animosity when he lets curiosity overcome his 

 natural timidity, and ai)proaclies too near for their comfort. 

 The cock Knorhaan, without much warning, often executes a 

 " pas-seul," letting his wings drop from their usual position, 

 and " fluffing out " the feathers of his head and neck, at the 

 same time outspreading and moving the tail from side to side 

 and then taking a short flight by way of ending the per- 

 formance. Judging by the wild ones I have seen they seem 

 to be slightly larger than their near relatives the Black 

 Knorhaan (Otis afro) : yet, on the other hand, these two 

 individual birds belie this fancy. Again, there is a perceptible 

 difference in respect of the colouring of the legs in these two 

 species, for those of the Black variety, in the adult stage, are 

 chrome-yellow, whilst those of the Blue are of a very pale 

 straw, or dry grass tone. Further, the peculiar shading of 

 pink, pale yellow, and horn in the beak in the former is quite 

 at variance with that of the latter, and the Black has a straw- 

 coloured iris and the Blue a brown, which latter is darker iu 



