214 
ON SAFARI 
down together among the wiry grass. I was dis¬ 
appointed in not meeting with coursers—birds I have 
never seen, and of which several species exist here. 
Larks were a conspicuous genus, and one small group 
quite new to me—the bush-larks ( Mirafra ), small and 
thick-set, with short rounded wings. On February 4 
I found a nest of one of these, a rufous-winged little 
bird, probably M. athi , containing a newly-hatched 
chick. It was on bare ground, slightly sheltered by a 
low rock. The secretary-bird we observed on various 
occasions; but these, as well as bustards, cranes, etc., 
have, I think, already been mentioned. 
A fortnight’s hard work having failed to produce so 
much as even the sight of another lion, we decided to 
try fresh ground. 
East of the Athi rise the mountain-ranges of Lukenia 
with numerous outlying koppies—most “ lionous ” spots, 
with splendid shaded caves, many of these showing 
ample evidence (in tawny hair, etc.) of quite recent 
occupation. Lions lie up by day, not in the cold re¬ 
cesses of these caverns, but quite openly beneath over¬ 
hanging shelves of rock outside them. Where these 
“ beds ” were exposed to the full rays of the afternoon 
sun, a. second lair would always be found a few yards 
away—round some projecting angle that afforded shelter 
from meridian heat. There were rarely any bones about 
these dens—save indeed those of mice , relics of owls 
and kestrels that also frequent the rocks. In one lion- 
cave grew a wild fig-tree. 
We worked all these koppies for miles along the 
Lukenia Range, sometimes stalking particular lairs the 
positions of which were known, at others “driving” 
some great tumbled pile of rocks, or trying by grass-fires 
to smoke out secretive denizens. We put out jackals 
and numberless hyrax, but never a lion. Sometimes 
when one realised that a beast was coming out by the 
exit where one held guard, it was almost a relief to 
observe that it was “ only a jackal ” ! 
