XV 



AN UNCAGED ZOO 



'93 



When tick-picking the oxpecker rests on the whole 

 tarsus and when in danger of being swept off by the tail 

 of its host flattens itself or hops out of the way. It is 

 stated that an oxpccker will attach itself to a particular 

 animal. 



The oxpecker will pick parasites from oxen and is 

 exceptionally fond of donkeys. White herons will perch 



Oxpeckers (Btipliaya erythrorhynrhfi). 

 Busy on submerged buffaloes. 



on the back of cattle and feed on ticks, flies, and other 

 parasitic insects. When elephants approach water, buff- 

 backed herons will swarm on their backs. 



Close to our camping ground near the lake there 

 was an almost vertical wall of rock, about 300 

 feet high, which formed one of the many irregular 

 boundaries surrounding the deep depression which this 



