BIG GAME AND ITS BIRD-PEOTECTORS 275 



such as warbles, bots, ticks and other vermin, that in 

 Africa infest all larsre animals, whether tame or wild. 

 Thereby, incidentally, the birds tend to rid the suffering 

 l.)easts of a distressing and ceaseless scourge. For many 

 of these vermin, laying their eggs within the hide, are 

 hatched in a living cradle of flesh and l^lood, where their 

 presence creates intense, often maddening, irritation. 

 The birds themselves are about the same size as our 

 starlings, of no special personality, and are furnished 

 with a strong wedge-like beak, well adapted for digging 

 out their burrowing prey. In colour that organ varies 

 from bright yellow to pale red. 



That Buphaga erythroryncha is actuated by honest 

 solicitude for the safety of the wild game, appears to be 

 demonstrated by the fact that when feeding on the 

 backs of cattle, or domestic animals, its conduct is quite 

 different. In such cases, no notice whatever is taken of 

 the appearance of a human being, and no warning is 

 given. The bird appears to have reasoned-out the fact 

 that cattle stand in no danger from the hunter. 



There are several other species of birds which 

 occasionally (whether by design or otherwise) communi- 

 cate alarm to one's quarry. Among these may be 

 mentioned the glossy starlings, rollers or blue jays, 

 colies and rasvoo-el. Eg-rets also and buff-backed 

 herons attend upon game, perching on their backs to 

 feed upon Hies and ticks, and should be named, though, 

 being so conspicuous and easily avoided, they never give 

 trouble to the hunter. 



In East Africa, one of the most troublesome birds 

 to the big-game hunter is the black-winged plover 

 {Stephanihyx inelanoptei'us) , a shrieking peewit-like bird 

 with a brazen voice and the lung-power of a suffragette. 

 Many birds, as is well known, habitually ''give 

 tongue " on seeing a strange creature or something they 

 suspect. At home, all are familiar with the uproar that 

 small birds raise on discovering a prowling cat or stoat 

 or snake, or a somnolent owl in an ivied tree. This is, I 

 imagine, the motive — the common impulse to mob any 



