110 IN AFRICA 



in other words, whenever a hunter tries to approach 

 their own particular rhino from any direction, wind- 

 ward, leeward, or any other way, the ever alert and 

 watchful rhino birds sound a tocsin of warning. 

 The rhino pricks up his ears and begins to show 

 signs of taking notice. He doesn't know where or 

 what the danger may be, but he knows the C. Q. D. 

 code of danger signals as delivered to him from the 

 outposts on his back and hastens to get busy in an 

 effort to locate the foe. As a general thing the lit- 

 tle birds, on sight of danger, begin a wild chatter, 

 rising from the back of the rhino and flying in an 

 opposite direction from the danger. Then they re- 

 turn, light on the rhino's back, and repeat, often 

 several times, the operation of flying away from 

 the danger. If the rhino is a wise rhino he learns 

 from the birds which is the safe way to go and soon 

 trots swiftly off. In a measure the habits of the 

 rhino bird are as interesting as those of the rhino 

 itself, and as an example of the weak protecting 

 the strong, the Damon and Pythias relationship 

 between bird and beast is without parallel in the ani- 

 mal kingdom. 



The rhino is a peaceful animal. He browses on 

 herbs and shrubs and dwells in friendly relation- 

 ship with the rest of the animal kingdom. Perhaps 

 once or twice a day he ambles down to some favorite 

 drinking place for a drink, but the rest of the time 

 he grazes along a hillside or stands or lies sleepily 

 under a tree. At such times as the latter he may be 

 approached quite near without much danger. Each 



