allowed her a full half-length in their front.
On her withers sat about twenty buffalo-birds ('Textor erythrorhynchus',
Smith), which act the part of guardian spirits to the animals. When the
buffalo is quietly feeding, this bird may be seen hopping on the ground
picking up food, or sitting on its back ridding it of the insects with
which their skins are sometimes infested. The sight of the bird being
much more acute than that of the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the
approach of any danger, and, flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise
their heads to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight of
their guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes in their flight
on the wing, at other times they sit as above described.

Another African bird, namely, the 'Buphaga Africana', attends the
rhinoceros for a similar purpose. It is called "kala" in the language of
the Bechuanas. When these people wish to express their dependence upon
another, they address him as "my rhinoceros", as if they were the birds.
The satellites of a chief go by the same name. This bird can not be said
to depend entirely on the insects on that animal, for its hard, hairless
skin is a protection against all except a few spotted ticks; but it
seems to be attached to the beast, somewhat as the domestic dog is to
man; and while the buffalo is alarmed by the sudden flying up of its
sentinel, the rhinoceros, not having keen sight, but an acute ear,
is warned by the cry of its associate, the 'Buphaga Africana'. The
rhinoceros feeds by night, and its sentinel is frequently heard in
the morning uttering its well-known call, as it searches for its bulky
companion. One species of this bird, observed in Angola, possesses a
bill of a peculiar scoop or stone forceps form, as if intended only to
tear off insects from the skin; and its claws are as sharp as needles,
enabling it to hang on to an animal's ear while performing a useful
service within it. This sharpness of the claws allows the bird to cling
to the nearly insensible cuticle without irritating the nerves of pain
on the true skin, exactly as a burr does to the human hand; but in
the case of the 'Buphaga Africana' and 'erythrorhyncha', other food is
partaken of, for we observed flocks of them roosting on the reeds, in
spots where neither tame nor wild animals were to be found.

The most wary animal in a herd is generally the "leader". When it is
shot the others often seem at a loss what to do, a