-^ The Lonely Wonder-world of the Nyika 



Searching the ground as it goes, the augur buzzard [Btiteo 

 aMgur) wings its flight over the stone-strewn slopes 

 of the adjacent hill. Bateleur eagles wheel in graceful 

 circles high in air, let themselves fall down for several 

 yards, and then shoot up again heavenward. For hours 

 at a time they will carry on their strong-winged circling 

 and plunging through the realm of air, apparently without 

 effort or fatigue. Various kinds of kites show them- 

 selves in their oscillating flight, that makes them always 

 so clever at escaping the gun ; amongst them large 

 numbers of Montagu's harrier {Circus pygargus, L.), which 

 at certain times of the year range restlessly over the 

 velt. Hawks and sparrow-hawks wing their rapid flight 

 in search of prey. In short, every kind and form of 

 bird flight that one can imagine ! For instance, the 

 proud majestic flight of the larger species of vultures is 

 essentially distinct from the heavy flight of the small 

 Egyptian vultures {Neophron percnoptertis, L.), whose 

 flight the Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria most aptly 

 described, when he remarked that at a distance the bird 

 might easily be mistaken for a stork. 



It is indeed a great pleasure to follow with the eye 

 all the wondrously beautiful types of flight that the 

 African birds of prey present to us. The enoinnous 

 numbers of birds of prey, in a land that is nevertheless 

 so rich in wild life, ought to suggest some salutary 

 reflections to those who, here at home, with such dogged 

 persistence wage war with guns and pole-traps against 

 those creatures, which are so great an ornament to the 

 landscape. For my part, I would on every point support 



225 15 



