274 



ON SAFARI 



assert. But whether these shrikes are actuated by reason 

 or instinct, or whatever their precise motive may be, at 

 least to the stallver the result is the same — a chatterino; 

 crew of shrikes and the clatter of g^alloping hoofs. 



The tick-birds or oxpeckers {BuphagincB) must also 

 be included in the category of detrimentals. My own 

 short experience would not have enal^led me so to classify 

 them, since I cannot remember to have lost a sinijle shot 

 through their agency. On one occasion I passed c[uite 

 close to a rhino, and in full view, when, though the 



SABLE ANTELOPE ALARMED BY BIRD-WARNING. 



great pachyderm was attended by at least a score of 

 feathered parasites creeping all over his frame, neither 

 bird nor beast took the slightest notice. I might, indeed, 

 almost have been inclined to regard Buphaga africana 

 in a friendly light, since the flights of these birds 

 passing overhead at dawn have, on occasion, indicated 

 the presence and direction of game. But the testimony 

 of far more experienced observers has proved conclusively 

 that the little tick-bird possesses a full sense of gratitude 

 towards its hosts, and habitually gives alarm to the 

 animals (especially rhino and buflalo) which may, at the 

 moment, be providing it with a meal. 



The avocation of these birds, as indicated by their 

 name, is to subsist on those loathsome parasitic insects, 



