Chap. XIII. BIKDS— A GOOD OMEN. 231) 



" Wa-wa-wa," and the piping of the fish-hawk, are sounds which 

 can never be forgotten by any one who has sailed on the rivers 

 north of 20° south. If we step on shore, the Charadrius carun- 

 cula, a species of plover, a most plaguy sort of " public-spirited 

 individual," follows you, flying overhead, and is most perse- 

 vering in its attempts to give fair warning to all the animals 

 -within hearing, to flee from the approaching danger. The 

 alarm-note, " tinc-tinc-tmc," of another variety of the same 

 family (Pluvianm armatus of Burchell) has so much of a me- 

 tallic ring, that this bird is called " setula-tsipi," or hammering- 

 iron. It is furnished* with a sharp spur on its shoulder, much 

 like that on the heel of a cock, but scarcely half an inch in 

 length. Conscious of power, it may be seen chasing the white- 

 necked raven with great fury, and making even that compara- 

 tively large bird call out from fear. It is this bird which is 

 famed for its friendship with the crocodile of the Nile by the 

 name siksak, and which Mr. St. John actually saw performing 

 the part of toothpicker to the ugly reptile. They are frequently 

 seen on the same sandbanks with the alligator, and, to one 

 passmg by, often appear as if on that reptile's back ; but I never 

 had the good fortune to witness the operation described not only 

 by St. John and Geoffrey St. Hilaire, but also by Herodotus. 

 However, that which none of these authors knew, my head 

 boatman, Mashauana, stopped the canoe to tell us, namely, 

 that a water-turtle which, in trying to ascend a steep bank 

 to lay her eggs, had toppled on her back, thus enabling us 

 to capture her, was an infallible omen of good luck for our 

 journey. 



Among the forest trees which line the banks of the rocky 

 parts of the Leeambye, several new birds were observed. Some 

 are musical, and the songs are pleasant in contrast with the 

 harsh voice of the little green, yellow-shouldered parrots of the 

 country. There are also great numbers of jet-black weavers, 

 with yellowish-brown band on the shoulders. 



Here we saw, for the first time, a pretty little bird, coloured 

 dark blue, except the wings and tail, which were of a cho- 

 colate hue. From the tail two feathers are prolonged beyond 

 the rest six inches. Also, little birds coloured white and black, 

 of great vivacity, and always in companies of six or eight 



