October, 1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



221 



tho tents, aiid setting our " trusty " followers to work, 

 wo soon had a camp neatly .irratigod and in workini; 

 order. While one of us remained in camp, the otlior 

 two sallied forth to the hunt. 



Most of our work was done between live aiul eleven 

 in the morning. From eleven to three we rested in the 

 sluvde, and from three until sunset wc were collecting 

 again. But the morning hours were generally the most 

 profitable, the afternoon being hotter and often spoilt 

 by a Siuidstorm, while in the evening a necessarj' 

 slaughter of pigeons for the pot usually had to bo 

 undertaken. When out collecting each of us was accom- 

 panied by a man to cany the birds, and perhaps a spare 

 gun and a wat«r bottle. Wlieu five or six birds had 

 been shot the man was sent back to camp with them so 

 that no time should be lost in tlie skinning, and as 

 decomposition often set in within two or three houre 

 after death, wo found this plan necessaiy as well as 

 convenient. For caiTving the birds we employed a 

 stick, to which were tied at intervals pieces of thread. 

 a space being left in the middle of the stick for the 

 hand. To one end of each piece of thread was tied a 

 small bit of cork and to the other a pin. When .i bird 

 was shot the pin was pushed through its nostrils and 

 into the cork. The bird thus hung free from the stick 

 and its plumage was in no danger of being rubbed and 

 injured. Only one of our men showed any liking to 

 come out shooting. They were not sportsmen. In- 

 numerable excuses wei'c invented when they were told 

 to accompany us. But excuses were vain — answers 

 could also bo invented. Was illness pleaded — pills were 

 administered, a species called the " Livingstone rouser " 

 being most effective, but the man must come. Did a 

 man say that he had lost his shoes and covild not walk 

 through the thorns, then he must take another's shoes 

 and be quick. We had no mercy, nor had the com- 

 panions of the malingerer. They laughed like children 

 when an excuse was silenced. 



As is always the case, or at all events wherever I 

 have collected, certain birds, and generally tho common 

 ones, interfere with the collecting of others. Wc were 

 much annoyed by a species of babbler* of about the 

 size of a blackbird, and of a light brown colour, but with 

 a white head, which w-as lucky for us, as it made them 

 conspicuous and so easier to avoid. They were common 

 where the trees and bushes grew thick, and were always 

 in small companies. When wc were unfortunate enough 

 to come suddenly upon one of these companies the 

 babblers seemed to go mad — whether with rage or teiTor 

 I never could determine, and assailed us with an in- 

 cessant stream of the hoarsest alarm-notes. This noise, 

 for it can be called nothing else, was made up of a 

 number of " churrs ' so rapidly repeated that the whole 

 sounded like a policeman's rattle turned with feverish 

 anxiety. Moreover, the birds pcrforiued in company, 

 sitting side by side on a bough and often touching one 

 another. Were you so unwise as to try and drive them 

 away they only retired to another bush and redoubled 

 the noise. If you tried to creep away they followed you 

 advertising your presence to every other bird, and 

 it was a long time before you could finally shake them 

 off. Then there were four kinds of pigeons that were 

 numerous and would rush out of a tree which you were 

 carefully approaching, with such a fiap that all the other 

 birds took alann, and a thick tree often contained twenty 

 birds or more. In another way we were handicapped by 



* Craleropun hucocephalus (Crctzsclim). 



two little birds, the pallid warblorf a«d the ksscr 

 \vhitethroat.| The luajorilv of the l)irds in evci'y thick 

 tree or bush were sure to bo cither pallid warblers or 

 whitethroats. Tho difficulty was to discover what else 

 the bush contained. Ma.ny of the bushes were so thick 

 that it was not until the birds came near the edges that 

 they could be seen. A thorough examination might 

 occupy a quarter of an hour and then poihaps no other 

 birds but these two would be found. A good pair of 

 binoculars is in every way the ornithologist's best friend, 

 and although a glass should not be relied upon to too 

 great an extent in identifying birds, it was of the utmost 

 service in this work. I was the happy possessor of a 

 pair of Goerz's Trieder binoculars. Eveiyone praises 

 his own glass, but of all those I have tried iiono has 

 been so good as this glass for my purpose. The power 

 which magnifies nine diameters can Ijo focussed and 

 used perfectly easily with one hand, which is a great 

 advantiigo, tho definition is excellent, and although the 

 '■ field '' is not large, the glass is so light that it can be 

 moved about quickly and with a little practice even 

 a flying bird can bo " piclted up " immediately. 



In this country of dense bushes and tame birds a 

 knowledge of the notes of the birds was most valuable 

 and a great saving in time. By a systematic identifi- 

 cation of the performers all the commoner notes were 

 quickly learnt, and then an unknown or doubtful sound 

 proceeding from a thick bush at once drew attention. 

 By moans of these notes many of the rarer and smaller 

 bii'ds we obtained were first detected. For instance, 

 one day I had got to the fringe of the wooded tract of 

 countiy and had reached the beginning of the desert 

 when I hoard the sweetest possible little note proceeding 

 from a thoni bush. Tho bush, although quite leafless, 

 was so thick with green shoots that I could see no bird 

 in it, but the note was so soft and delicate that I knew| 

 it must have been uttered by a tiny bird. I went some 

 paces away and waited. After a time four or five most 

 elegant little bush warblcis§ appeared on the outsido of 

 the bush. Most refined little birds they were with 

 most channing actions. They moved cjuickly and giacc- 

 fully from twig to twig, and often fluttered to' the 

 ground in their search for insects, and except when 

 actually flying they were incessantly flirting their long 

 tails from side to side with a quick, jerky but dainty 

 motion. Wo aft^jrwards found these little birds in the 

 acacia trees bordering the desert, and heard their 

 wiu-bling song, which was so soft that a near hearing 

 and perfect silence were necessary for it to bo fully 

 appreciated. 



In some ciises, however, neither our glasses nor oiu- 

 oars were of any sei'vice in determining the species of 

 a bird. Two birds which we obtained I thought at the 

 time were reed warblers,|l but on a comparison at homo 

 one of them proved to bo a marsh warbler.^f Both these 

 sjjecies come to England in the summer, and here in their 

 breeding haunts their difi'crcnt nests and songs and 

 habits make them perfectly distinct. But the birds we ob- 

 tained were migrating from their winter abodes, perhaps 

 much further south. Tho habits ai)peared to be exactly 

 similar, they were not in song, nor did we hear them 

 utter even a call note, so that there was nothing to 

 differentiate them except their size or plumage. But 

 in size they are exactly the same, while even, with the 

 two bii'ds side by side in the hand their plumage is so 



t Hypolais pallida (Hcniin-. et Ehr.). J Sylvia curruea {\ Ann.). 

 § SpilopHla c?a«ia»« (Teniiri.). {| Acrorrp/ialus -ilrepeni.i (Viiill.). 

 •[ Acroccphalus palustris (Boclut. ). 



