66 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



any revealing value, and that even then they may be com- 

 pletely Ignored. By actual experience shore-shooters have 

 found that after a certain rough resemblance to the wild bird 

 has been attained further painting of the decoy to make the 

 resemblance minutely accurate is a waste of time and brings 

 no advantage. Instead of legs the shore-bird decoys stand 

 on sticks which are thrust into the sand. The duck decoys 

 which bring best results are commonly painted so roughly 

 that none of them would for a moment be accepted in even 

 the cheapest book or collection as fit copies of the originals. 

 Yet the species of water-fowl and shore-snipe which decoy 

 at all will come to these decoys as readily as to any others, 

 and often will light among them and swim or walk round 

 them for some minutes. For unknown reasons certain 

 ducks and waders will not come to decoys; but the species 

 that do come evidently fail to notice the minute details, 

 and some of them fail to notice any details, coming down 

 to decoys which are mere caricatures. Birds of prey some- 

 times strike at decoys. I have myself known an eagle to 

 stoop at decoy ducks, and when It failed with the first one 

 attacked, to repeat its swoop at another, evidently not 

 understanding what had happened. There could be no 

 better proof of the unimportance of detail in the eyes both 

 of at least some of the birds that prey and some of those 

 that are preyed on under the ordinary conditions of their 

 lives. 



There are similar facts to be adduced regarding mam- 

 mals. In Africa, in former times, bushmen, customarily, 

 and at least one white man, Mr. Jackson, the present gov- 

 ernor of Uganda, on one occasion, rigged themselves as arti- 

 ficial ostriches and thereby were able to approach gazelles 



I 



