32 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 



a comical manner, were just as much out of proportion 

 as the eyes, and of the same vivid yellow ; indeed, the 

 bird-stuffer seemed to have finished off his work with 

 a thick coating of the brightest gamboge over legs and 

 bill. They had no tail to speak of, and their soft 

 plumage was of all different shades of brown and grey. 

 very prettily marked. The dikkop (a Dutch name, 

 meaning " thickhead "), is a small kind of bustard, and 

 is by far the best of the many delicious game-birds of 

 South Africa. It is a nocturnal bird, sleepy during 

 the daytime, but lively and noisy at night — as we soon 

 found to our discomfort. Not being able to decide at 

 once on a place for our newly-acquired specimens, we 

 put them into our bedroom for the first night, but 

 they were soon awake — so, alas ! were we — and their 

 plaintive cry, sounding incessantly from all parts of the 

 room as they ran restlessly to and fro, speedily obliged 

 us to turn them out. We found permanent quarters 

 for them at the end of the verandah, opposite the 

 fernery, where my American trunks — too large to go 

 into the house — had been placed. These we arranged 

 to form a little enclosure, in which the dikkops were 

 safe from the voracious Jacob, who would soon have 

 swallowed them, legs and all, if he had had the chance. 

 One, evidently the smallest and weakest of the covey, 

 we named Benjamin ; but, unlike his Scriptural name- 

 sake, he received rather a smaller than a larger portion 

 of the good things of this world, the greedy Joseph 

 takino- advantage of his own superior size and strength 

 to o-et the lion's share of all the food, and Benjamin 



