REASON. 
125 
looking machine carried on the shoulders of the gunner. 
Whoever would wish to be a successful sportsman in 
foreign countries ought to adopt the dress of the 
inhabitants, as ours do the guise of a woman carrying a 
basket on her back, when they would come within range 
of the Bustard. From this it is evident that birds are 
thoroughly capable of distinguishing; they even learn to 
know a particularly dangerous individual. “ In the year 
1820,” relates my father, “ I possessed a live Eagle 
(Aquila fulva ), which required no small amount of food for 
its support: this demand fell heavily upon the neigh¬ 
bouring Books, as they furnished the principal portion of 
his sustenance. In a very short time their powers of 
comprehension became highly developed; and I had the 
honour of becoming personally known to every Book in 
the vicinity. As soon as I was observed by any one of 
them, it immediately called out vociferously. Thus 
warned, its companions immediately placed a distance of 
150 to 200 paces between us.” 
I have often observed the same myself while shooting, 
but have never come across any bird who succeeded in 
frustrating my endeavours with such remarkable clever¬ 
ness as the African Marabou (Leptoptilus crmnenifer ) after 
our first hostile meeting. All other long-legged birds are 
shy; he, however, estimates the danger, and then scoffs 
at the same. He is a thorough calculator : every move¬ 
ment, his gait, even his glance is deliberate and decided. 
I killed one in the Khartoum, in the slaughter-yard, 
among the many that frequented it, with a shot-gun, but 
never a second. After the death of their comrade they 
did not permit anyone to approach within 150 yards. I 
then resorted to my rifle, and dropped another at that 
distance: from this time forth I was ever unsuccessful. 
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