140 AFRICA SPEAKS 



are about the size of a pigeon, very fine eating, and 

 offer some excellent sport. We had found that the 

 best way to shoot them was by hiding near a water 

 hole late in the evening. As they flew in from the 

 veldt in clouds for the last drink of the day, the hunter 

 could obtain several dozen in a very short time. It 

 was not possible to use that method here, so Mike 

 circled the truck around, thus scaring up huge flocks. 

 When they took to the air sometimes the flock would 

 fly close enough for me to get in a shot. We 

 gathered aU we could use with four sheUs, using a 12 

 gauge full choke pump gun. It is to be regretted that 

 so Httle has been written about the bii*d life of Africa, 

 for the entire country teems with an infinite variety 

 and quantity of feathered fife, some species offering 

 the finest kind of sport. 



Picking up Maniki and my trophy, we continued our 

 journey to camp, and while eating lunch, the conver- 

 sation finafly centered on vultures. I now made up 

 my mind to carry out an experiment which I had 

 often planned but had never had the time to complete. 



It was a very hot afternoon, the thermometer regis- 

 tering close to one hundred thirty degrees in the 

 shade, causing heat waves to dance over the veldt, 

 making distant objects take on fantastic shapes. I 

 scanned our front yard with the binoculars in search 

 of a zebra herd, and spotting one in a likely location, 

 strode out into the bhstering heat. I walked about a 

 mile from camp and, finding a suitable spot, crawled 

 under the low-hanging branches of a dense thorn tree, 

 getting into such a position that it would be impossible 

 for anything to see me from the air. With the glasses 

 I carefully searched the heavens in aU directions. 



