546 BUFFALO AND KHINOCEROS BIRDS. Chap. XXVIT. 



Smith), which act the part of guardian spirits to the animals. 

 When the buffalo is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hop- 

 ping 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 bud being much more acute than that of the 

 buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the approach of any danger, and, 

 flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise their heads to discover the 

 cause, which has led to the sudden flight of then 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 rhino- 

 ceros," 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 excej)t 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 bidky 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 insensible 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 

 food is partaken of, for we observed flocks of them roosting on 

 the reeds, in spots where neither tame nor wild animals were to be 

 found. 



The most wary animal in a herd is generally the " leader." 

 "When it is shot, the others often seem at a loss what to do, and stop 

 in a state of bewilderment. I have seen them then attempt to 

 follow each other and appear quite confused, no one knowing for 



