412 LARGE GAME. chap. ix. 



Closely allied to the bustard, if not absolutely one of 

 them, is the little " dikkop," or " big-head " (Mdicucenus 

 maculosus), truly spoken of by Baldwin as "the daintiest 

 bird in Africa." To any one but a naturalist, it seems to be 

 a miniature knorhaan, and is found, at certain seasons of 

 the year only, for it appears to be migratory to a limited 

 degree, on the table-lands and flats, where it can be shot 

 in great numbers. It is easily flushed, though rarely ris- 

 ing out of range, and affords good sport with or without 

 dogs. It particularly affects dry water-courses, or any 

 slightly broken ground, in which also it generally forms 

 its nest, as, in common with all the already mentioned 

 birds, it lays its eggs on the bare ground, and is accom- 

 panied by its young brood as soon as they are hatched. 

 Its colour is a pale rufous, mottled with dark brown 

 blotches. 



Among the larger birds of Africa, the wild turkey 

 (Geronticus cabrus) is one of the most beautiful, as well 

 as one of the most rare. Its colour is a dark, glossy, 

 shining green, with a golden tinge on either shoulder, 

 while, somewhat resembling our domesticated kind, its 

 head and the upper part of the neck is nude of feathers, 

 and a bright red ; it has a long, slender, and slightly 

 curved bill, with which it seizes the locusts and grass- 

 hoppers on which it principally feeds, and is a wild, shy 

 bird, frequenting the open country, and difficult to ap- 

 proach, and it is but rarely that one is killed on the east 

 coast. There is another bird which is often mistaken by 

 the newcomer for it, a horn-bill, locally known as the "nsin- 

 gisi," or snake-bird (Bucornus Abyssinicus). The point of 

 resemblance is a large red bag under the head ; its colour, 



