26 MY SOMALI BOOK 



with a smooth brown neck and a whitish ruff, and a 

 great turkey-buzzard Uke the West Indian " John 

 Crow,'' but bigger ; then there was a bright tawny- 

 vulture with black points, as big as the other two, 

 but with less force of character, besides three smaller 

 kinds. A kite, darker and heavier than the Indian 

 pariah kite, managed to collar a tit-bit and clear off 

 with it, but was at once charged by a small light- 

 coloured eagle — you should have heard the whack ! 

 as they met in mid-air ; the kite was knocked endways, 

 but clung manfully to his prize, and, recovering himself, 

 dodged a second swoop and got clear away. 



As sunset approached the vultures disappeared, 

 and only a couple of crows remained. Then a mongoose 

 appeared round a corner and went for one of the crows, 

 who beat a retreat, but immediately returned to the 

 attack and regained possession. This happened half 

 a dozen times, the crow evidently having as wholesome 

 a respect for the mongoose's sharp teeth as the latter 

 had for his powerful bill. The mongoose was a hand- 

 some fellow, grayer and darker than the common 

 Indian species, with a black tip to his tail and a black 

 nose instead of ajpink one. 





. . CO '•^ . 



-^*^V." - - v^-. . ^Jf 



