84 MY SOMALI BOOK 



of that beauty is simply the Creator's pleasure therein ? 

 This is probably what the Hindu thought when he 

 first called the roller the bird of Vishnu : for Vishnu, 

 the Preserver, is but another manifestation of Brahma, 

 the Creator. 



The whole subject of animal colouration is a 

 fascinating one, but there is no room for any dis- 

 cussion of it here. I shall, however, in a later chapter 

 have occasion to touch upon one or two of its problems 

 again. 



I had just finished my smoke when I noticed the 

 head of a lesser bustard popping up in the grass not 

 far off and went after it with the Sherwood. Then I 

 saw another. The grass was about eighteen inches 

 high, so that as a rule the birds' bodies were not 

 visible, they would not stand still and there was a stiff 

 breeze blowing which interfered Avith a steady aim, 

 consequently, though I could get to within^about forty 

 yards of them, I did not find it easy to hit. Then, 

 when it became alarmed, the bustard would flatten its 

 body down to the ground, head low, scuttle away in 

 the grass, invisible, and vanish. 



At first I fired three or four shots with no apparent 

 result ; as it turned out I had not understood the rules 

 of the game. At last I saw a head and neck, fired, and 

 the head disappeared as usual ; in a second it was up 

 again a couple of feet farther on. I fired again and 

 this time a dying flutter showed I had got one. I ran 

 up to find two birds lying dead close together, and as 

 I reached them a third rose at my feet and flew away* 

 I had not known there was more than one. Quite 



