206 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
pause which, to me, in view of the height from which he had 
jumped, could only mean death or serious injury, but the thought 
had hardly crossed my mind when he was up and off in a flash, 
none the worse for his crash-landing. 
In a much higher tree I once cornered a lizard and he too 
jumped from near the top. He was a large Agama Lizard and, like 
the squirrel, spread his arms and legs as he descended, but con- 
sidering his weight he seemed to go down remarkably slowly and 
I have an idea that this ballooning effect was created by inflating 
himself with air. No sooner had he hit the ground than he scuttled 
off as fast as his legs would carry him. 
To add to our three arboreal squirrels, a native brought in two 
baby Ground Squirrels. These live in burrows like rabbits and 
never climb, and consequently have numerous enemies, including 
the native. Ours were hand-reared from the blind stage by Delys 
and became delightfully tame, but were always pathetically nery- 
ous. They had an instinctive fear that any sudden noise indicated 
enemy action, so if either of us appeared suddenly round a corner 
of the huts, the squirrels panicked until realizing that we were 
their friends and protectors, and not mongooses or hawks. 
Our stock of hand-reared pets was increased by the acquisition 
of some baby Cane Rats, known in West Africa as Cutting-grass. 
They become delightfully tame when captured young. They are 
rather stocky animals with fat wire-haired bodies, short legs, and 
broad flat faces. They live on green food and on roots, and in fact 
somewhat resemble young pigs in habits and shape. They are 
water-loving creatures and ours delighted in having their daily 
bath in a large pan of water. Cane Rats are hunted extensively by 
the natives, as they are not only meaty, but are considered very 
tasty. It was a common sight to see natives working along the 
river's edge with their dogs, searching through the thick clumps 
of reeds and thick vegetation, where these animals seek shelter 
from the heat of the day. 
One of my most exciting moments was when I got my first 
glimpse of a Standard-wing Nightjar near the banks of the River 
Pru. 
It was dusk and suddenly a fair-sized bird that appeared to be 
