these the indicators, or honey-guides, by some authors classed with the cuckoos, are deserving of special notice. One species described by Dr Sparrman is said to attract the notice of the Dutch and Hottentots by a shrill cry of cher, cher; and when it perceives itself observed, it flutters onwards to the hive of a wild bee, in hopes of partaking of the plundered honey. "I have had frequent opportunities of seeing this bird, and have been witness to the destruction of several republics of bees, by means of its treachery. I had, however, but two opportunities of shooting it, which I did to the great indignation of my Hottentots." We may here observe, that naturalists themselves seem occasionally to belong to that irritabile genus, of which poets are said to form the principal component parts. Though Sparrman asserts that he was a frequent eye-witness of the curious instinctive habits of the honey-guide, yet Le Vaillant doubts if that traveller ever saw the bird at all. He says that the account is merely a repetition of a fable that is known and believed by credulous people at the Cape, and that it is false to suppose that the bird seeks to draw man after it for the purpose of sharing the plundered sweets; the fact being that the bird calls not the man, but that the man knows, by attending to the natural cry of the bird in search of food, that he will be sure ere long to find the stores of the bee. According to Bruce, the moroc, for so this singular species is sometimes named, occurs in Abyssinia; but he also throws discredit on Sparrman's relation. We have seen, in the preceding chapter, that Lichtenstein doubted the truth of Le Vaillant's account of the camelopard; we now find Le Vaillant himself equally sceptical of the accuracy of the Swedish traveller, and joined therein by Bruce, whose own statements were at one period scarcely credited at all. However, to conclude a subject which has already too long detained us, we shall observe that Mr Barrow, a most careful and accurate inquirer, though not a professed zoologist, confirms Dr Sparrman's account, as follows :— "Every one in that country (the interior of the southern extremity of Africa) is too well acquainted with the moroc to have any doubts as to the certainty either respecting the bird, or its information of the repositories of the bees." The sagacious and imitative family of the parrots (Psittacidae) is the next to demand a brief record. Though one of the most numerous groups of the feathered creation, it is by no means abundant in species, when considered merely in reference to its African relations. The gorgeous maccaws are peculiar to South America, the cockatoos to New Holland and the Eastern Islands, the lories to the East Indies and the Moluccas; and the greater proportion of parrots and parakeets, commonly so called, are more truly characteristic of the tropical regions of other countries than of Africa. Yet here also this noisy and loquacious race are not unknown, although the far-spread forests are its chosen dwelling-places rather than the barren sands. Africa, however, has also her shady bowers as well as thirsty Saharas ; "For He, at whose command the parched rock The Greeks and Romans became acquainted with the parrot kind, in consequence of certain species of these birds having been imported from the East soon after Alexander's Indian expedition. The Alexandrian parrot, especially, so remarkable for its elegant form and docile disposition, is generally supposed to have been brought to Europe about that time from the island of Ceylon, the ancient Tabrobane. In the reign of Nero, the Romans introduced other species from different quarters of Africa. They were highly prized by that luxurious people, who lodged them in superb cages of silver, ivory, and tortoise-shell; and the price of a parrot in those days frequently exceeded that of a slave. Nor did Ovid think it beneath him to write a lengthened elegy on the death of Corinna's parrot,—a bird which, in the love it bore its mistress, seems to have emulated that of the dying Greek for his country : "Clamavit moriens lingua, Corinna, vale!" It is only in these degenerate days that the keeping of a cockatoo is brought forward in a court of justice in proof of an alienated or imbecile mind.* We trust that, in some instances, at least, such inference may be fairly classed as a non sequitur." 66 One of the earliest imported of the African species appears to have been the gray or ash-coloured parrot (Psittacus erithacus), still remarkable for its easy loquacity and general imitative powers. To this species probably belonged the individual mentioned by Cælius Rhodoginus, and which belonged to Cardinal Ascanius. "I cannot," says that au * See the case of Dundonald versus Roy, as lately reported at length in the Scotch newspapers. thor, "omit an extraordinary wonder seen in our times. This was a parrot at Rome, belonging to Cardinal Ascanius, who purchased it for a hundred gold pieces, and which, in the most articulate and uninterrupted manner, recited the Apostles' Creed as well as the best reader could have done, and which, as a most extraordinary and wonderful thing, I could not pass unnoticed." We shall mention only two other African species of this tribe, viz. the damask parrot (P. infuscatus), of which an interesting account is given by Le Vaillant, and the Guinea parrot (P. pullarius), apparently figured on the 40th plate of the second volume of Seba's Thesaurus. That division of the Linnæan genus Bucco now called Pogonias, is peculiar to Africa. It contains about six species, of which the manners are little known. That called the Abyssinian barbican by Latham, was observed to cling to the branches of trees like a woodpecker. Of the Trogons, an extensive tribe, of brilliant plumage but ungraceful forms, the greater part are proper to Asia and America. We are indebted to Le Vaillant for the figure and description of an African species discovered by him in the country of the Caffres, and called Narina, which, it seems, in the Hottentot language signifies a flower. It is the Trogon narina of systematic writers. We come now to a limited tribe, entirely peculiar to Africa, the plantain-eaters, genus Musophaga. These are large birds, elegantly shaped, and richly coloured. The species are few in number, and their history is still obscure. Allied to the preceding are the Touracos, likewise characteristic of the African continent. One of the most beautiful was classed by Linnæus with the cuckoos,—the Cuculus persa of that great observer. Le Vaillant says that there are great numbers of touracos in the country of the Kottinquas, that they are very difficult to shoot, as they perch only on the summits of the tallest trees, and rarely suffer any one to come within gunshot, -but that they are easily caught alive by snares, baited with such fruits as are in season. He adds that they are excellent eating. Another species of this genus which it is delightful to look upon, is the Pauline touraco,-Corythaix Paulina. It inhabits Southern Africa. M. Vieillot had one alive, and he informs us that its manners were mild and familiar it lived on succulent fruits, and was fond of sugar; its habits were active, and its voice sonorous and apparently ventriloqual. : The different tribes and genera belonging to the great order of gallinaceous birds are the next to claim our regard. The sympathies of such of our readers (if such there be) as are regardless of that beauty of form and splendour of colour to which we have already so often attracted their attention, would probably yield more readily to certain culinary associations connected with poultry, turkeys, pheasants, grouse, &c.; all of which, and many more equally dear to the late Dr Kitchener, belong to the present extensive division of our subject. It happens, however, that cocks and hens are of eastern origin,—that turkeys are native only to America, that pheasants come from the banks of the Phasis, and that grouse are peculiar to northern countries. We must, therefore, in the meantime, be contented with a few pigeons. |