BIRDS AND FISH. 
93 
the natives from making use of their feathers, or those 
of the adjutant, for head-dresses on occasions of mer- 
riment, or on the march. Another bird of prey is 
a slate -coloured hawk, possessing a powerful flight, 
quite able to knock over a guinea-fowl, and altogether 
of noble appearance. Of eating-birds, there were three 
species of partridge, a few quail, the florikan, blue 
wild-pigeon, guinea-fowl, and a knob-nosed duck. The 
"k'engo," tree -partridge, resembles the painted one of 
India, has yellow legs, beautiful plumage, and weighs 
about a pound ; the natives trap them in nooses of 
hair. The "kewtee" or "nsenae," only half a pound 
in weight, is a very plump little partridge, found in 
open places, scratching and scraping the ground like a 
hen ; and in colour it is almost the same as the quail. 
It has reddish legs, with a button-like pearly spur. A 
third kind of partridge is the " qualse : " it is more 
common than the others, and has a handsome blue 
full plumage and red legs, with sometimes an appear- 
ance of a double spur. The most game bird in plum- 
age was the florikan, weighing from 1-| to 2^ lb., and 
forming even better food than the Indian species. A 
few parrots, a long-tailed bird of paradise, with the 
most graceful airy flight, some handsome yellow birds, 
about the size of the blackbird, and others with black 
bodies and white primaries, taking languid, short 
flights, were the most remarkable we saw during a 
morning or evening walk. 
Our Seedees killed nearly all the fish in the country. 
They were caught by raking the still, waist-deep pools 
in the stream-bed by means of a hurdle of sticks. The 
large 20 -pounders were often left for another day, but 
a good load of fifty smaller fish was generally brought 
