139


THE



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BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



New Series — VOL. V. — NO. 5. — All rights reserved. MARCH, 1907.


THE BLUE KNORHAAN.


Otis ccBruleus.

By Capt. Boyd R. Horsbrtjgh, A.S.C., F.Z.S., etc.


In April, 1905, I was lucky enough to obtain in the market

at Bloemfontein, a pair of the Blue Knorhaan. Neither before

nor since have I seen these birds for sale alive, nor have I seen

any in captivity, so I conclude that it was an exceptionally lucky

chance that brought this latter pair into my keeping. They

were then perhaps six weeks old, in very rough plumage, and

about the size of Red-legged Partridges, only of course longer

in the leg.


From the moment that I took them out of the little crate

in which they had been brought to market, they proved them-

selves to be most extraordinarily tame, following my wife and

me around the garden from the very first, with a loud querulous

cry like that of a young kitten.


From the first they fed better from the hand than in any

other way. Their appetite was delicate and I am convinced that

if they had not constantly been coaxed into accepting their food,

they would not have lived many months.


The blue colour on both of these birds was very pale at

this time, and their legs were of a greyish colour ; the female

was slightly smaller than the male, and her face and eyebrows

were distinctly browner than those of her mate. It was quite

evident that they had been reared by a woman on a farm, and

they had rather a fascinating trick of sitting down on the edge

of a skirt whenever they got the chance. The hen was particu-

larly fond of doing this, and always crooned a little song to herself"



