342 THE BUFFALO-BIRD. 



buffalo-birds, (Textor erythrorhynchus, Smith,) which aft the 

 part of guardian spirits to the animals. When the buffalo 

 is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hopping on the 

 ground picking up food, or sitting on its back ridding it of 

 the insects with which their skins are sometimes infested. 

 The sight of the bird being much more acute than that of 

 the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the approach of any dan- 

 ger, and, flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise their heads 

 to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight of 

 their guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes 

 in their flight on the wing; at other times they sit as above 

 described. 



Another African bird — namely, the Buphaga Africana — 

 attends the rhinoceros for a similar purpose. It is called 

 "kala" in the language of the Bechuanas. When these 

 people wish to express their dependence upon another, 

 they address him as "my rhinoceros," as if they were the 

 birds. The satellites of a chief go by the same name. 

 This bird cannot be said to depend entirely on the insects 

 on that animal, for its hard, hairless skin is a protection 

 against all except a few spotted ticks; but it seems to be 

 attached to the beast somewhat as the domestic dog is to 

 man; and, while the buffalo is alarmed by the sudden flying 

 up of its sentinel, the rhinoceros, not having keen sight, 

 but an acute ear, is warned by the cry of its associate, the 

 Buphaga Africana. The rhinoceros feeds by night, and its 

 sentinel is frequently heard in the morning uttering its 

 well-known call as it searches for its bulky companion. 

 One species of this bird, observed in Angola, possesses a bill of 

 a peculiar scoop or stone-forceps form, as if intended only 

 to tear off insects from the skin; and its claws are as sharp 

 as needles, enabling it to hang on to an animal's ear while 

 performing a useful service within it. This sharpness of 

 the claws allows the bird to cling to the nearly-insensiblo 

 cuticle without irritating the nerves of pain on the true 

 skin, exactly as a burr does to the human hand; but, in the 

 case of the Buphaga Africana and erythrorhyncha, other 



