42 
field Notes from Mashonaland. 
Cattle Egrets (Ardcidac) there are plenty of, and these go 
about in flocks of six to fifty, spending most of their time 
walking round the cattle and horses, and picking the large, fat, 
blue ticks off the legs of both; funnily enough I have never seen 
them attempt to pick ticks off either sheep or goats, which, being 
nearer the ground, one would have thought would have provided 
a more plentiful and easily obtained meal than the few odd 
ones they pick off the larger live-stock. 
The Hammer-head {Scopus umbrctta), or Hammer-kop 
as it is called in Cape Colony, certainly takes the precedence of 
the other som]:)re-coloured Khodesian birds on account of their 
interesting habits. Several pairs can usually be put up, any 
time of day or night, ofi any of the " pans "' (waterholes with 
bog, etc.); they are very tame birds on the whole and will 
generally permit Europeans to aj^proach within ten or fifteen 
yards of them, and Kaffirs even nearer, and this I noticed to 
be the case with all species of Rhodesian birds without excep- 
tion; they would always allow a " black " to approach nearer 
than a "white." I was never lucky enough to see the eggs of a 
Hanmier-head, but twice saw a nest, a huge structure, strong 
enough to hold a man. The nest was built in a dead thorn tree, 
and at a height of about twelve feet — they add to their nests 
every year, and the first nest I saw had a biscuit-tin lid and a 
bit of red limbo on the edge, so. like the kites, they evidently 
appreciate colour for their home decorations. 
Snakes, of course, abound everywhere, from python to a 
little grey snake, about the size of a worm and the same thick- 
ness; but this, and the Black, and Crccn }.lombas are the only 
really common reptiles one comes across everyday, with, of 
course, the exception of water and land tortoise, " crocks." and 
chameleons. The male of the Creen Momba is a beautiful 
snake, bright emerad-green ; but the female is a dull-coloured 
reptile, being a uniform mud-colour all over. They are great 
tree climbers (both Green and Black Mombas) and are very 
dangerous, as they are sure and sudden death if they bite, which 
tliey do at the sli.yhtest provocation. It is very sedom one sees 
a creeper growing up veranda poles, the reason being that 
Mombas climb up them and are then apt to drop on to one, in 
which case Ftnis with a capital " F." 
