BUPHAGA AFRICANA. 419 
near Potchefstroom. Mr. T. EH. Buckley procured specimens in 
Matabele Land, and Dr. Exton found it not uncommon throughout 
the latter country, frequenting the Rhinoceros, and being called by 
the hunters the ‘‘ Rhinoceros Bird ”—the Matabele name, according 
to the last named observer, is ‘ Umblanda.’ The late Mr. Frank 
Oates procured it on the Semokwe River. Mr. Andersson says that 
he only observed this species in the middle districts of the Damara 
country. “Itis generally met with in small flocks, which visit the 
cattle in search of the larvz and ‘ticks’ with which their hides are 
often abundantly supplied; and indeed I never saw these birds, 
except when they were occupied in thus searching for insects, though 
Livingstone has recorded his having met with flocks of this species, 
and of its congener, B. erythrorhyncha, roosting on reeds in spots 
where neither tame nor wild animals were to be found.” Mr. Monteiro 
states that it is common all over Angola, and Senor Anchieta has 
found it at Humbe on the River Cunene, as well as at Capangombe 
in Benguela. It is a well-known species from both North-eastern 
Africa and Senegambia. 
Mr. Ayres writes:—“ Is not this bird rightly named Buphaqa ? 
[During our stay in the bush Ox-peckers appeared in numbers 
_ about our oxen, and actually ate large holes in the fleshy part 
of their backs, often one or two inches deep, and two or three 
inches in diameter, thus creating bad sores. They do this little by 
little, and day by day; and though it is annoying to the ox, I 
cannot say that it seems to feel it much. The birds attack just that 
part of the back where the ox cannot swish them off with its tail or 
" dislodge them with its horns, They especially infest those oxen 
Hy which have lost their tails by inoculation for the lung disease. I 
; had previously thought that these birds only ate the parasitical 
insects common to cattle and game. This species is a pest to the 
| hunter, of whose approach it warns the Buffalo and Rhinoceros by 
| its loud harsh note, which is perfectly understood by its huge 
friends. I have not scen any holes picked by these birds in the 
| Buffalo or other game, but only in cattle.’ / 
| Mr. Andersson’s note does not give the Buphaga the bad character 
{ assigned to it by Mr. Ayres, which, however, we have heard 
confirmed by many other South African travellers. He writes :— 
“‘The arrival of these birds is announced by a sharp cry; and the 
next moment they may be seen in a little flock descending fearlessly 
252 
