CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.
"WIDOW-BIRDS."
They were only too glad to get off out of that neighbourhood, and at anearly hour they inspanned and treked up the banks of the stream.
Just as on the other side, the road led through a succession of valleys,with groves of trees scattered over their surface; and as theyproceeded, the mountain-spurs more frequently approached the banks, andat one or two places they found great difficulty in getting the wagonsacross the ridges. One of these was so steep, that for a while thetravellers feared they would not be able to follow the stream anyfarther. The oxen refused to trek up the declivity, and neither whipnor jambok would force them forward.
But Congo knew of a plan by which they were at length induced toproceed; and both wagons arrived in safety at the top of the pass--not,however, until Swartboy had clicked and shouted, and Congo had screamed,till their throats were sore, and both had worn the voorslays ofspringbok skin from their long whips.
Congo's mode of making the oxen move forward was a very simple one; andconsisted in his going ahead of them and smearing the rocks along thepath with the "mest" of the oxen themselves--thus leading the animals tobelieve that other oxen had gone before them, and that therefore thepassage must be practicable, since some of their own kind had alreadymade it! This mode is often adopted by the trek-boors of SouthernAfrica, when they wish to drive up very precipitous places, where theoxen are afraid to go of themselves.
The valley, which was reached after climbing through this difficultpass, was one of very small extent--not exceeding a couple of acres; andas the river had now become diminished to a mountain-stream, it wasfordable at any point throughout the whole length of the little meadowin which the travellers encamped. At the head of this valley a ridgetrended across the course of the stream through which the current hadcleft a wide way; and the only road leading out above was along thechannel of the river itself. Fortunately, this channel was nearly dry,else they could have gone no farther in that direction. As it was, thepebbly bed of the stream could be traversed by wagons, and they wouldeasily get through to wider plains that stretched beyond. They hadhalted for the night in this little valley, because there was excellentgrass for their cattle; and as wood grew along the sides of the rockyhills, and clear cool water ran down the stream, they possessed all thethree necessary requisites for a traveller's camp.
It was a curious little place where they had outspanned. As alreadystated, the level ground was not over a couple of acres in extent,though it was nearly of circular form. Through the very centre of itpassed the stream, its bed being only a few feet below the generalsurface; and all around were the mountains, their precipitous sidesrising like rocky walls to a height of several hundred feet, andcompletely enclosing the mountain within their embrace.
There were no trees upon the surface of the meadow itself, but againstthe rocks grew many kinds; some of them hanging with their topsdownward, and some stretching horizontally outwards. A few small shrubsalone, with some reeds, grew upon the edge of the stream; but these werelow, and would not have concealed a man standing erect.
In the centre of this natural amphitheatre the camp was formed--that is,the wagons were placed there. The horses and oxen were not fastened inany way, as it was supposed they would not care to stray out of thevalley.
There were three good reasons why they should not wander. First,because they were wearied with a long day's work, and one that had beenparticularly severe. Secondly, the paths leading out were difficult tofind. And thirdly, because both the grass and water there were of asgood a quality as either horse or ox could have expected to meet withelsewhere. There was no reason, therefore, why any of them should gobeyond the confines of the valley where the camp was situated.
As usual, no sooner were Klaas and Jan fairly out of their saddles thanthey went bird's-nesting. Several kinds of birds had been seen by themas they entered this secluded valley; and it was likely that some oftheir nests would be found at no great distance off.
And some were found. Upon the shrubs and reeds quite a colony of birdshad made their habitations. They were small sparrow-looking birds,having nests of a kidney-shape, hollow in the inside, which was reachedby little circular entrances, something like the nests of the commonwren. The outside part was constructed of grass; while inside, thenests were lined with a soft substance resembling wool. This was thecottony down obtained from some plant that, no doubt, grew in thatneighbourhood, but which the boys could not see anywhere around.
Now these little birds were already well known to the young yagers.They had met with them before; and all of them knew they were birds ofthe genus _Ploceinae_, or weaver-birds. They knew, moreover, that thereare not only many species of weaver-birds, but that there are also many_genera_, or rather _subgenera_, of them, differing from each other insize, colour, and habits, but all possessing the curious instinct ofbuilding nests of a very ingenious kind--in other words "weaving" them;from which circumstance they derive their trivial name. The nests ofall the species differ from each other. Some are constructed of aglobe-shape; others like a chemist's retort; others of kidney-form; andstill another kind of nest is that of the "social weaver-birds." Theselast unite in large numbers, and fill one great nest, or "hive," whichoften fills the whole top of a great acacia, looking like a haystackbuilt among the branches of the tree.
The little weavers observed by Klaas and Jan were of the genus_Amadina_--the _Amadina squamifrons_; and both the boys were glad atencountering some of their nests at that moment. Not that they were atall curious to see the eggs, for they had examined them often before.No: that was not the reason. There was another and a different one. Itwas this: the inside lining of the nest of the amadina makes excellentwadding for shot-guns--quite equal to tow, and even better than thesoftest paper; and as both Klaas and Jan were out of wadding, theyexpected to replenish their stock by robbing the poor amadinas of theirpretty nests.
They would not have done so wantonly, for Hans would not have permittedthem; but, as hunters, they stood in real need of the article, andtherefore they took it without remorse.
Simple as the thing was, they were compelled to unravel the nests beforethey could get at the soft material with which they were lined: and thisunravelling was not done without some difficulty, for the outside workwas woven together like the rods in a fine piece of basket-work. Theentrance which the bird had left for its own passage in and out was sosmall, that the boys could not thrust their hands into it; and, what wassingular, this entrance, whenever the bird was absent from the nest, wasso closed up that it was difficult to find it!
Having obtained as much wadding as they required out of a pair of nests,the boys did not disturb any of the others; but permitting them to hangwhere they had found them, returned to the wagons.
They had not been long there before their attention was attracted toanother bird, and one of a rarer and more curious kind than the amadina.It did not differ much from the latter in point of size, but in thenature and colour of its plumage--which was most curious indeed. Thebird which now occupied the attention, not only of Klaas and Jan, but ofall the others, was about the size of a canary-bird; but its longtail-feathers, several times the length of its body, gave it theappearance of being much larger than it really was.
Its colour was of a very dark glossy brown, or nearly black, upon thehead and over the upper parts of the body. Around the neck was a collarof orange rufous, which grew paler upon the breast, ending in a bufftinge over the abdomen, lower parts of the body, and thighs.
But it was in the tail-feathers that the peculiarity of this birdappeared. Of these, two were immensely long, set vertically, or"edgeways," and curving far outward and downward. Two others, muchshorter, also stood out edgeways above the first. These were broadlywebbed at their bases, being at their widest rail three inches across;while their tips, for the length of three inches more, were entirelywithout any feathery web, and looked like a pair of stiff hairy spinesprojecting outw
ard. Besides these two pairs of vertical feathers, therewere four others on each side of the tail, nicely graduated one abovethe other, each being about a quarter of an inch shorter than the oneimmediately below it. All these tail-feathers were black.
But one of these birds was seen by the boys at their camp; but theynoticed that it was accompanied by another bird of a rusty brown andwhitish colour, and with a tail of the ordinary kind. This companionwas neither more nor less than the female; while the gaudy creature withthe orange colour and long tail-plumes was the male.
Hans's knowledge was now brought into requisition, for the others hadnever seen this curious bird, and knew not to what species it belonged.Hans told them it also was one of the weaver-birds; known amongnaturalists by the name _Vidua_; among the French as "La veuve;" andamong the English as "Widow-bird." All of the party regarded this as avery singular name for the bird; and at once called upon the naturalistfor an explanation of it. Fortunately, Hans was able to give them this;and that was more than the learned Brisson--he who baptised it _Vidua_and _La veuve_--has been able to do.
"Brisson," said Hans, "has named the little creature `widow-bird,'because he had heard that it was so called among the Portuguese; and theFrench naturalist assigns as a reason that it was so called on accountof its colour and long tail! Such writers as Monsieur Brisson andMonsieur Buffon are never at a loss for reasons. Now it so happens thatneither its colour nor tail had any thing to do with the origin of itsname `widow-bird,' which of itself is quite a misnomer. The Portuguese,who first drew attention to this bird, called it `Whidah' bird, from thefact that it was received by them from the kingdom of Whidah in WesternAfrica. That is the way in which the bird has received itsappellation."
The Whidah-bird, on account of its livery habits, but more from thesingularity of its tail-plumes, is a great favourite as a pet: and isoften seen in cages, where it hops from perch to perch without fear ofconstraint, and alternately depresses and elevates its long tail withgreat vivacity. It is usually fed upon grain and several kinds ofherbs, and is exceedingly fond of bathing itself in water. It moultstwice a year; and during one period the male loses the long plumes whichdistinguish him from his mate, and altogether becomes so changed incolour, that the sexes are not then very easily told apart. It is onlyduring the breeding season that the cock Whidah-bird attains his finetail, and the orange and black colours of his plumage.
There are two species of Whidah-birds known to naturalists. The"Paradise widow-bird" (_Vidua paradisea_) is the one described above;and another which is called the "Red-billed widow-bird," (_Viduaerythrorhynca_). The latter is a smaller species, and differs from theother in the arrangement of the tail-feathers. Its bill is of a deepred colour--whence the trivial name; and its plumage is of abluish-black upon the upper parts of the body, with a white collararound the neck, white wing coverts, and whitish underneath.
Its habits, however, are precisely similar to those of the species_Paradisea_; and both are found inhabiting the same countries, viz:Western Africa. The range of neither reaches as far southward as theCape Colony, but one of the species extends to the countries northwardof the great Orange River, and is occasionally, though rarely, seen.
On account of its rarity in these parts, the young yagers, andparticularly the naturalist Hans, were desirous of obtaining its skin;and for this purpose the shot-guns were levelled, and both the "widows"were ruthlessly brought down from their perch.