252 BIG GAME SHOOTING 
for rhinoceros) to be by nature an extremely stupid beast, and 
were it not for the birds (Buphaga erythrorhyncha) which nearly 
always accompany it, and act as sentinels for it, the rhino- 
Dead rhinoceros and gun-bearer 
ceros would be quite the easiest of all game to stalk, and 
would, in consequence, be far less plentiful than it is. If not 
accompanied by these birds, there would be no difficulty in 
approaching sleeping rhinoceroses to within a few yards; in fact, 
