THE RHINOCEROS. 345 



birds, " their object being to feed upon the ticks and other 

 parasites that swarm upon these animals. They are of greyish 

 colour, and are nearly as large as a common thrush. Their voice 

 is very similar to that of the mistletoe thrush. Many a time 

 have these ever-watchfiil birds disappointed me in my stalk, and 

 tempted me to invoke an anathema upon their devoted heads. 

 They are the best friends the rhinoceros has, and rarely fail to 

 awaken him, even in his soundest nap. 'Ohukuroo' perfectly 

 understands their warning, and springing to his feet, he generally 

 first looks about him in every direction, after which he invariably 

 makes off. I have often hunted a rhinoceros on horseback, 

 which led me a chase of many miles, and required a number of 

 shots before he fell, during which chase several of these birds 

 remained by the rhinoceros to the last. They reminded me of 

 mariners on the deck of some bark sailing on the ocean, for they 

 perched along his back and sides, and as each of my bullets told 

 on the shoulder of the rhinoceros, they ascended about six feet 

 into the air, uttering their harsh cry of alarm, and then resumed 

 their position. It sometimes happened that the lower branches 

 of a tree, under which the rhinoceros passed, swept them from 

 their living deck ; but they always recovered their former station. 

 They also adhere to the rhinoceros during the night. I have 

 often shot these animals at midnight when drinking at the foun- 

 tains, and the birds, imagining they were asleep, remained with 

 them till morning ; on my approaching, before taking flight, 

 they exerted themselves to the utmost to awaken Chukuroo from 

 his deep sleep." 



The only specimens of the rhinoceros that were brought to 

 Europe since the days of the Eoman amphitheatre until 1869, 

 were of the Asiatic species, and one-horned ; but on the 11th of 

 September of that year, an African animal {R. Ucornis) arrived in 

 London.. It bad been purchased by the Zoological Society from 

 Mr. Carl Hagenbeck, the well-known dealer in living animals at 

 Hamburg, and the price paid was lOOOZ. Mr. Hagenbeck bought 

 it from Herr Casanova of Vienna, who imported it from Eastern 

 Africa, where he had obtained it from the Hamram Arabs, who 

 inhabited the district to the south of Cassala, in Upper Nubia. 



