somewhat surprising to find that man alone was not the
only migrant. My earliest English schoolboy days were
recalled when I caught the Convolvulus Hawk-Moth
(Protoparce convolvuli), bred the Death’s-head Moth
(Ackerontia átropos), or gazed upon the numbers of the
Painted Lady (Pyrameis cardui); whilst an earlier friend
than all appeared with the summer rains. The Crimsoned
speckled Moth (Deiopeia pulchella) was a very
old acquaintance. 1 had caught it in Surrey, met with
it again in the Malay Peninsula, received it from
Mogador, and now at the other end of Africa found- it
somewhat an abundant insect. The time of its appearance
in the Transvaal is very protracted. I first captured
it. at the end of September, and found it still
active on leaving the country in the following July.
Flying in the strong sunlight, I have often mistaken it
for a large Lyccenid, as the pale azure-blue of the posterior
wings is wonderfully reflected, and the red and
black spots of the anterior wings are, during flight,
scarcely, if at all, visible. Its flight is short and it is
easily captured.
It was very soon after my arrival that I first saw the
Secretary-bird (Serpentarius secretarius), that well-known
African snake-eater of which we have all read. It is
generally believed, and I was assured as a fact, that a
£50 fine was inflicted for killing one of these birds ; but
in the Transvaal, as elsewhere, I soon found that the
“ vox populi ” must be taken “ cum grano salis” I
enquired of several well-informed men, including a
newspaper editor, who stated that such was the fact;
but at last I induced a friend on whom I could rely to
make proper enquiries at headquarters, and after considerable
trouble he discovered that there was no fine
whatever on the statutes, but that a healthy and deterrent
legend only existed *. Another legend appertaining
to this bird and copied in popular hooks on ornithology
is that its legs are so long and brittle that they will
* For this and much other reliable information I am indebted to my
friend Meinheer J. H. E. Bal, of Pretoria, who has long been a resident in
the country.
snap if suddenly started into a quick run. My man,
Donovan, who accompanied me to the Transvaal, and,
imbibing the zoological furore, assiduously spent his
Sundays in shooting birds, procured me a very fine
specimen of the species. By a long shot he broke its
wing, when it made off at a terrific pace across the veld,
followed by a spider and pair of horses as hard as they
could go. Eventually it was come up with, and on the
Kafir boy endeavouring to secure it, the bird showed
fight, beat him off, and again started running across the
uneven ground. My man now outspanned one of the
horses and on its back galloped after the creature, which
had obtained a long start. For more than three miles
did this chase continue over the veld interspersed with
ant-hills, and eventually it required the contents of two
more barrels (buck-shot) to stop and secure it. This fact
effectually disposes of its reported incapacity for violent
running, as the hunt was over a long stretch of country
of the most uneven surface. The crop of this bird was
full of the remains of orthopterous insects *.
But the bird of the open treeless veld is the Vulture
(Gyps Jcolbii), and in places like the outskirts of Pretoria,
where dead oxen and horses in some seasons plentifully
strew the plain, these birds act the part of a sanitary
board. A specimen I obtained weighed in the flesh
32 lbs., and as it was a full-grown example and a large
bird, I think this may be accepted as the maximum
weight. On days when none are apparently to be seen,
if one carefully looks upwards towards the clear sky and
scans the expanse, the diminished form of one of these
huge griffons is sure to be made out, as from its lofty
vantage it surveys a large tract of country. Should a bird
be seen to alight, it is not long before others arrive from
all sides and hover about the spot. There can be little
doubt that high in the air these sentinels are always on
* Dr. Sclater informs me, however, that the legs o f specimens confined in
the Gardens of the Zoological Society are very brittle and liable to accident.
The range of this bird is somewhat restricted. Emin Pasha did not meet
with it on the East-African steppes, though he believed it existed there
(‘ Emin Pasha in Central Africa,’ p. 402).