44 NATURE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



round a bush and away in safe sanctuary before a 

 shot could be fired. At the next pan the only occu- 

 pant unscared by the sound of recent firing was a 

 great white stork which my friend Mackay quickly 

 brought down as it rose majestically to escape. 

 This handsome bird (Ciconia alba), figured in Gould's 

 Birds of Europe, with its whitish plumage, orange- 

 red bill, and pale red legs and feet, is not so often 

 seen in Lower Bechuanaland, except when the 

 rains are at hand, and the river and pans full. 

 Further north in the lake and river regions it is 

 plentiful enough. 



We wandered for a short while further through 

 the glades and thickets beyond, picking up one bush 

 koorhaan {Otis ruficrista), a very handsome bustard 

 common in the bush and forest region of the interior. 

 In the brief notices of this bird I have never seen 

 remarked the curious purplish-pink colouring with 

 which the soft, fluffy under portion of the body 

 plumage is suffused. This colouring is very remark- 

 able, but like the very similar hue of the crest, fades 

 greatly after death. The pinkish inner tinge con- 

 trasts singularly with the intense black of the outer 

 plumage on the stomach of this bird. 



There appeared to be no further prospect of 

 wildfowl this evening, and as dusk was approaching 

 we made our way back to our horses, mounted, and 

 rode off. We had not long quitted the bush and 



