20 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



commonest. They, however, never lived long, as 

 they seemed to lose their natural instinct in the 

 way of food, and would eat or swallow anything, 

 even bits of iron and tin. 



There was an immense variety of birds at 

 Maclontsie. The hut I occupied was built under 

 a vachtum beachy tree, or the "Wait-a-bit Thorn," 

 thus called owing to the thorns growing the reverse 

 way to the branch. On this tree were the nests 

 of eighteen or twenty weaver birds. They always 

 built at the extremity of the branches, with the 

 entrance to the nests underneath, no doubt as 

 a protection against snakes. There was also a 

 small woodpecker's nest in a hole in the trunk 

 of the tree, and every morning when I gave a 

 tap, one of the pair would pop its head out, give 

 a knowing nod, and retire. I have counted seven 

 different varieties of birds engaged in a scuffle, 

 every bird in the neighbourhood joining in, until 

 this living fluttering mass of birds formed a ball 

 two feet in diameter. 



In this part of the country there is a species of 

 ant named the Matabele, about half-an-inch long, 

 and black. The males or soldiers have enormous 

 jaws ; when they get a grip you have to pull their 

 bodies in half before they let go. Some of these 

 could sting as well as bite. One great colony had 

 their headquarters at the foot of a large tree, about 



