NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



and fluttering almost within reach, the ratel would 

 be induced to follow it up in the hope of securing 

 the bird, and would thus unconsciously be led to a 

 hive of bees. The ratel is one of the most inquisitive 

 of animals, and curiosity alone would prompt it 

 to follow up a chattering, fluttering Honey Guide 

 bird. Once having followed one of these birds 

 and having found a beehive, the ratel would not be 

 slow in connecting the two ; the next time a bird 

 demonstrated before it the ratel would follow it 

 with the greatest of eagerness. The habit would 

 be learned by the ratel's progeny, and from genera- 

 tion to generation the instinct to follow the Honey 

 Guide would deepen. 



Major J. Stevenson-Hamilton, in his interesting 

 book, Animal Life in Africa, gives the following, 

 and apparently convincing account of the ratel 

 being led to beehives by Honey Guide birds : — 



" You may be resting in the bush in the cool of 

 the afternoon, or on some cloudy day, when your 

 attention is arrested by the persistent and approach- 

 ing chatter of one of these feathered spies. Presently 

 the bird itself comes fluttering on to a branch some 

 thirty yards distant, where it perches, flapping its 

 v^ngs, and displaying every sign of impatience. 

 For a moment it is silent, and then a less familiar 

 sound strikes the ear : a light sibilant hissing and 

 chuckling, which at first you find yourself unable 

 to identify : ' Kru-tshee, krut-shee-clk, elk, elk, 

 whee-tshee-tse, tse-whi-o-o ' (it is almost impossible 



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