KARROO BEASTS, BIRDS AND REPTILES. 251 



perspective, but all making the straightest of bee-lines 

 towards the wounded animal. In the Free State, whore 



these birds are very numerous, T , hunting on 



horseback, has sometimes found that before he could 

 reach the spot where his antelope had fallen the 

 aasvogels were already on it, and had commenced 

 operations by plucking out the eyes, their special tit- 

 bits. 



These nastiest of birds think nothinsr of overeatinor 

 themselves till their condition resembles that of Mark 

 Twain's jumping frog after the famous dose of shot, 

 and, when gorged after a good "square" meal, they are 

 so heavy that they have to run a long way before they 

 can rise into the air. On these occasions, if you are 

 active and have a good long whip, you can catch them 

 by switching the lash round tlieir ugly, bare necks. 

 But a little experience teaches you that this sport has 

 its drawbacks, as the aasvogel invariably swarms with 

 animal life of the most objectionable kind. 



Owls are plentiful enough in the Karroo ; so too are 



those other nocturnal birds, the goat-suckers, which at 



sundown begin to Hy about, uttering their weird, 



plaintive cry. They are queer-looking birds, and seem 



all out of proportion, with a broad, short head and 



immensely wide bill, surrounded by stiff bristles like 



a cat's whiskers. On examining a specimen shot near 



our house, we were amused to find that, by looking into 



this preposterous bill, we could distinctly see the 



creature's eyes through the semi-transparent roof of 



the mouth. 



17 



