DESERT BIRDS. 



regular habitants inconsiderable. In these dreary soli- 

 tudes the voice of the bird is but rarely to be heard 

 breaking in upon the deathlike silence which reigns 

 almost uninterruptedly; and in common with the rest 

 of the living creatures, the desert birds are almost 

 always coloured so as to match the sands in the midst 

 of which they live. A few sand-grouse, doves, and 

 small pigeons may be said to comprise the list of game 

 birds, and these are said to be tough, dry and inde- 

 gestible eating. It is in the great dry plains of the 

 Bush Region, on the equatorial margin of the Desert 

 Zone, rather than in the desert itself, that these birds 

 may occasionally be seen frequenting the water pools 

 in the dry season, in almost incredible numbers, in the 

 evenings and early mornings. 



In popular opinion it is, however, always supposed 

 that the ostrich is at once the greatest and most pro- 

 minent representative of bird life in great deserts, and 

 in most parts of the Arabian and African deserts these 

 birds may be occasionally seen rather, however, we 

 venture to think, as visitors than as regular inhabi- 

 tants. The ostrich, it is well known, is of a very migra- 

 tory nature, and wanders over an immense extent of 

 country wherever, in fact, extensive dry plains are to 

 be found, but these curious birds are more generally 

 seen inhabiting the great game country rather than 

 the desert itself, and they seem to like the company 

 of other game animals, such as antelopes and zebras, 

 in preference to the absolute solitude of the perfectly 

 sterile waste. 



Among the ancients the ostrich was looked upon 

 rather as a kind of animal than a bird, doubtless from 

 the circumstance that it never used its wings for flight,. 



