THE ENDLESS VELDT 157 



now the birds were too far up for her to reach. The 

 one she had bitten made a feeble effort to fly away, 

 going a few hundred yards before it tumbled to earth 

 forever. The Honess now sat down on her haunches 

 and surveyed the scene around her, evidently satisfied 

 with results. It was one of those brightly hot days 

 when you can easily watch the heat waves as they 

 dance above the veldt. This unusual exertion during 

 the heat of the day called for a short rest, after which 

 she slowly walked back toward us to join another hon- 

 ess who was dozing beneath the shade of a thorn tree. 



This kill apparently belonged to both of these big 

 cats who preferred to wait until the cool of evening 

 before having their feed. As vultures work during all 

 the dayhght hours they continued to circle over this 

 dead zebra, and about the time the Honess reached the 

 tree they again settled near the carcass. Just as the 

 birds were commencing to have a grand feast the other 

 honess left the shade and made a rush toward the kill. 

 She did not carefully stalk the birds like her com- 

 panion, but full of business, went straight to the zebra 

 in long leaps. After driving the vultures away, she 

 lay down alongside the carcass for a few moments to 

 rest. The heat evidently becoming too great for her 

 comfort, she returned to the shade, whereupon the 

 vultures again circled and landed. As if by arrange- 

 ment, the first honess once more salhed forth to drive 

 them away. I watched this performance repeated 

 several times before the truck came to transport me 

 back to camp. 



We spent the morning of November twenty-third 

 selecting sites near water holes for new bhnds. We 

 located a very good spot about five hundred yards 



