ZOOLOGY 
34 1 
of which, with a little corn added, its diet usually consists. This crane may 
actually be described as a gardener, as although it is a large bird it walks so 
delicately amongst the flower beds as not to crush any blossom and keeps 
its large grey eyes vigilantly on the watch for any grub or locust. 
The crowned crane is found very abundantly in the Transvaal where also it 
is semi-domesticated. I have not heard whether these birds will breed in con¬ 
finement. If they would then it is marvellous they have not already made their 
way into Europe as a rival to the peacock, for the crowned crane has not only 
all the peacock’s beauty, but it has a much pleasanter voice, and is of positive 
benefit to the garden, whereas we all know the one drawback to the peacock is 
that it eats the flowers. Once a crowned crane has become attached to a place 
it will never leave it and may be safely trusted with its liberty. It will take to 
flight occasionally round the premises but never travels far away from its home. 
These birds appear to consort in pairs of male and female and become very 
much attached to one another, apparently pairing for life. Their dancing and 
bowing of the head are very quaint. They are fond of promenading about at 
times with the wings wide spread and taking long strides in the manner depicted 
in my illustration. When searching the lawn for locusts they stamp every now 
and then with their feet on the grass to cause those insects to leap or fly and so 
discover themselves. They are not very fond of dogs, in whose presence they 
will perform the most extraordinary antics, presumably in order to terrify the 
beasts, but to most other creatures they exhibit a friendly and considerate 
demeanour. They can be trusted in the farm yard or chicken run with the 
certainty that they will not harm even the tiny chickens. It is evident that 
their intelligence is very great and that they have a natural affinity for the 
society of human beings, though even here they discriminate between negroes 
and white people, and would often display much more politeness to Europeans 
at Zomba than to the negroes. A pair of these birds was the solace of my 
exile for some three years. One of them is still living at Zomba, the other was 
unfortunately killed by a snake. On my journey over the Nyasa-Tanganyika 
plateau in 1889-90, I was accompanied by a tame crane given to me by an 
Arab. This bird during the march was carried in a box on a man’s shoulders. 
Whenever we stopped to rest or to camp the crane was let out and would follow 
me about everywhere like a dog. When it was necessary to resume the march 
the door of the cage had only to be opened and the bird to be called for it to 
quietly step in. As the peacock from Tropical India can now stand an English 
winter so in like manner this charming crane which endures unharmed the sharp 
frosts of South Africa might very well be domesticated in England. The young 
as in all cranes are able to run on leaving the egg and give very little trouble in 
their rearing. If it were not sacrilege to mention the fact in connection with so 
lovely a creature I might add that this crane is excellent eating. 
This country offers so few arid tracts that it is not surprising that bustards, 
which are birds of the desert or steppe, are poorly represented. The only 
species obtained and sent home up to the present time is the handsome black- 
bellied bustard (Otis melanogaster). 
Flamingoes are seen occasionally on Lake Chilwa, on Lake Malombe and 
the Upper Shire, on parts of Lake Nyasa and above all on the south end of 
Lake Tanganyika. A specimen of a flamingo with immature plumage from 
the north end of Lake Nyasa was sent home by me in 1895, but either did 
not come to hand or was too bad a specimen for identification. The flamingo 
is probably a South African species, Pliosnicopterus minor; though I think 
