wheezing noises indicating that it is 

 startled. A shot through the verte- 

 ])rre of the neck or one through the 

 ])rain will of course drop it in- 

 stantly, while a shot behind the 

 shoulder will cause it to die 

 within a few moments. Tlie 

 cliflficulty however is to get in 

 a suita])le position to fire 

 the fatal shot. 



Fortunately for the hunter the rhino's power of 

 vision is very l)ad and prol)al)ly does not extend more 

 than thirty-five or fifty yards. His hearing likewise is 

 far below the average, and a man can often approach to 

 within a few feet up wind if he is not seen. The 

 animal's sense of smell however is remarkable, so that he 

 is able to discover enemies at long distances and in this 

 respect he is probably almost the equal of the elephant 

 and the l)uffalo. The naturalist would however meet 

 success more often in photographing the rhino, and 

 the sportsman would more often secure opportunity for 

 a correct shot if rhinos were not always found accom- 

 panied l)y the so-called "rhino or tick birds," for these 

 birds are \ery clear-sighted and give warning of the 

 approach of enemies. They perch on the huge beast's neck 

 and back, and feed on the numerous ticks which are always 

 to be found. 



Most of the rhinos of our collection were killed in the Loieta 

 some sixty miles south and west of Lake Naivasha, a station on 

 the Uganda railroad. The plain is watered by the southern 

 Guaso Xyiro River, wliich l)Ounds the Loieta on the north and 

 east. The German East African frontier lies to the .south and 

 the Amala or Olkeju Eugubi River and the thick forest country 

 called Osero to the west. Our party hunted here about five weeks 

 and during that time we probably saw an average of ten rhinos 

 daily. I^sually they were seen singly, unlike the more social white 

 rhinos, though sometimes in pairs, in which case they were prob- 

 ably female and young. Apparently a large proportion of the 

 animals seen were females. Why, I was unable to tell, except that possi- 

 bly the males, having the larger horns had been more sought after by 

 hunters. Of those shot b^' our party, fi\e were fenuUes and one was a 

 male. The horns of female rhinos are almost always thinner than those 

 of the male, though .sometimes fully as long. Om' largest head, the one 

 shot by Henry Sampson, Jr., was a female with an exceptionally long 

 posterior horn. Horns of the males are usually much thicker at the base 



97 



Field natura- 

 lists report 

 that no other 

 large g a ni c 

 animal of Af- 

 rica is more 

 difficiilt to ap- 

 proach with a 

 canu'ra. 



