THE HAMMER-HEAD. 109 



rancorousness, only the scene of it was changed 

 from the vicinity of the wagons to the offal hole a 

 hundred and fifty yards off. 



The non-enthusiastic sportsman would doubtlessly 

 object to all these disturbances, but they are the 

 disagreeables that have to be accepted with the 

 pleasures. There is no such thing as perfect happi- 

 ness. If there was, I fear it would be a very 

 namby-pamby affair. 



But in the intervals between the scrimmages of 

 the dogs and jackals, other and more pleasing sounds 

 can be heard, viz., the "bocking" of the spring- 

 buck, the queer, half-timid, half-fierce call of the 

 ostrich, and the shrill whistling note of the quagga. 

 This last is a satisfactory noise to the hunter's ears, 

 for as sure as you find this fleet and graceful animal 

 in numbers, so sure are you to find their most 

 devoted and assiduous attendant, the lion. 



But a shadow at times flits by, and its direction 

 is to the adjoining water. The experienced know 

 what it is, but the uninitiated would imagine it to 

 be an immense owl. This is the hammer-head or 

 shadow bird (Scopiis umbretta), a queer, weird-like 

 creature, which, if found in Scotland or Ireland.. 



