18 MY SOMALI BOOK 



speed ; or if he thinks himself unobserved, creeps 

 silently away. He is never found away from cover. 



One did not see many animals, but here at the foot 

 of the Golis there was bird-life in plenty. Fine feathers 

 make fine birds. The common Indian myna is an 

 individual for whom I have a great personal esteem ; 

 always cheerful in spite of his scientific misnomer 

 {Acridotheres tristis !) and eminently respectable ; he is 

 essentially bourgeois — and dresses accordingly. 



At Mandera, however, I first made the acquaintance 

 of another myna, evidently a younger brother who 

 had left home to make his fortune ; and made it — in 

 tinned grasshoppers or something of the sort. Having 

 made his pile, he must dress as one who has the entry 

 into the highest circles ; but here the erring instinct 

 of the nouveaii riche has led him astray. He appears 

 to have taken as his model a la-di-da young gentleman, 

 whose blood no doubt is blue as the sea, and his brains 

 as watery, judging from the vacuous expression with 

 which he swaggers about in a bright blue frock-coat 

 with flowing tails and the fanciest of fancy waistcoats. 

 Behold then Mr. Myna Junior in a coat and collar of 

 brilliant metallic blue, with vest and knee-breeches 

 of brightest orange-vermilion ! He has not gone as 

 far as the flowing tails (perhaps his wife reminded him 

 that his figure was just a shade too corpulent) ; all 

 the same he certainly is a fine bird : how far what is 

 best in Somali avine society may be taken in, I had 

 no means of discovering. But, as they say, to one 

 who knows the species, a certain type of South African 

 millionaire is always recognisable, whether because or 

 in spite of the huge diamond in his shirt-front ; so to 



