BIRDS AND TRAPS. 
37 
ciously after being kept two days. Early in the 
morning they roost lazily in tall trees, and in the 
evening they may be found near cultivations, chas- 
ing insects or grubbing up sweet potato. We killed 
one rare species, red round the eyes and on the throat, 
having a standing-up purple collar of loose skin, a 
ridge of ostrich-like black feathers from the back of the 
head to the nostrils, weight about 3 lb., and in running 
it seemed to have a more compressed body than the 
ordinary species. There is something peculiar about 
the shape of the " merry-thought," which differs from 
that of a fowl. The best-flavoured bird we found was 
the florikan, which has a rough gritty call ; but few 
were shot, as they were extremely shy. Green pigeons 
are handsome, and after they have fed on the wild 
fig, no bird looks plumper on the table. Eock-pigeon, 
snipe, quail, plover, and several species of partridge, 
we shot occasionally; also a very pretty species of pin- 
tailed dove found in Ugogo. Pigeons, generally white, 
and not differing from those at home, are sometimes 
kept as pets by the villagers. Of ostrich we saw only 
one gang on the bare plains of Ugogo, where the 
natives make handsome wreaths of their plumes ; and 
among the other birds seen were crested cranes, hawks, 
a solitary raven or two, a few parrots, but scarcely 
any crows. The natives capture all these beasts and 
birds by means of pitfalls and nooses. The former are 
cut like a wedge, most disagreeable to look down upon, 
eight feet deep, and but one foot across the top, which 
is coyly covered over. The nooses were formed of an 
elastic bough, stripped of its branches, with the noose 
hung perpendicularly, neatly concealed and placed in 
an antelope-frequented track. Diminutive traps were 
