A DAY IN KHAMA'S COUNTRY 23 



the eyes to tlie back of the head ; the rump and 

 tail are ash-coloured, the tail tipped white and 

 black ; the chin, the lower part of the stomach, and 

 the thighs are white. Black and white appears, too, 

 upon the wing-feathers; but as these birds so generally 

 run, and so seldom, comparatively, fly, this is not so 

 often noticeable. These charming birds run, as a 

 rule, in small bands of from seven to a dozen. They 

 are a pretty sight, coursing, as they do, on their stilt- 

 like legs over the dry plains. Having secured my 

 courser, I sat down by Mackay, who was resting in 

 camp, skinned the bird, and put it away. It is 

 curious that the late C. J. Andersson should have 

 never observed this bird in South-West Africa, 

 Namaqualand, Damaraland, or Ovampoland. It is 

 widely distributed in other parts of South Africa, 

 yet in Andersson's Birds of Damaraland there is no 

 mention of it. The Senegal courser, a very closely 

 allied species — almost identical, indeed — seems to 

 have been procured by Andersson at Ondonga, in 

 Ovampoland, but Burchell's courser is not men- 

 tioned. Still, one can hardly conclude from the 

 observations (necessarily limited) of one man, how- 

 ever keen, that Burchell's courser is never to be 

 found in country so adjacent to Bechuanaland as are 

 Damaraland and other parts of South-West Africa. 



Dove came in a little later with a pretty parrot, 

 one of Ruppell's parrots, which he had very lightly 



