336 
ON SAFARI 
to pick up stray grains of rice. But they do so here in 
a half-nervous way, and have not yet acquired that 
familiarity with man which they exhibit in the South. 
Glossy Starlings nest in hollow trees exactly as our 
starlings do at home. 
Wondrous assemblages of these birds, together with 
Rollers, Bee-eaters and Shrikes, Kites and Kestrels— 
indeed, the whole of the insectivorous tribes—may be seen 
gathered together at every veld-fire when the natives are 
burning-off the dead herbage. Feathered crowds dart 
hither and thither amid smoke and flame: while the 
luckless locusts and grasshoppers are literally hemmed in 
between fire and sword. For those few that escape—mostly 
crippled and singed—forthwith find themselves confronted 
by an army of Storks and Cranes sedately advancing 
in rear of the flames so soon as the burning embers per¬ 
mit. Altogether, a veld-fire affords an interesting episode 
in the economy of African bird-life. 
Crows 
African Rook —Heterocorax capensis. Observed on high ground. 
White-necked Raven —Gorvultur albicollis. At Voi, several of 
these handsome birds, as big as European Ravens and 
with huge beaks, scavenged, quite fearlessly about our 
camp. 
White-breasted Crow —Corvus scapulatus. Common. 
Note.— Crude and incomprehensive as it necessarily is, this List 
comprises upwards of sixty species of British birds, including nearly a 
score of our smallest and most delicate summer-migrants. 
