THE BUSH PIGS 215 



spears, and some very lively tussles usually ensue when 

 a bush pig is fairly cornered. Sometimes, but not 

 very often, owing to the fact that the beasts seldom 

 quit their impenetrable bush, except by night, they 

 fall to the rifle of a European. The flesh of this 

 boar, as of the wart hog, is moderately good eating. 



Of the Abyssinian bush pig very little is at present 

 known. Some 'authorities refer it to the common 

 species, others view it merely as a local variation of 

 the West African race. 



The West-African Bush Pig differs chiefly from 

 the bush pigs of South, Central, and East Africa in 

 its very handsome colouring a bright reddish-brown 

 or reddish -yellow. The forehead, ears, and limbs 

 are blackish, while the mane, parts of the ear margins, 

 the ear tufts, and streaks above the eyes are white. 

 Altogether this is one of the finest-looking hogs in 

 the world. It is, like its congeners, bush-loving in 

 its habits, and is seldom met with far from water. Its 

 habitat ranges from Angola to Senegambia, and it 

 is found as far eastward in Tropical Africa as the 

 Monbuttu country. 



THE OSTRICH 



Ostriches are common in most parts of Africa, 

 where wide open plains or plains clothed with scanty 

 bush are to be found. These birds are, of course, 

 tremendous runners, and a single hunter, mounted 

 on a good horse, has small chance of riding them 



O O 



down. They run usually, however, in a wide ring, 



