A BIRD OF NIGERIA.
[To TER EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR, —I am writing to ask whether any of your readers could possibly name the following small bird from my description. He is about the size of a small starling, wings black, with-a half-inch-wide white stripe running along lengthwise down their centre. Tail also black, but edged with white. Breast is very light coloured, but not as snow white as the bars on the wings, or his head and neck, which are all very white indeed. On the head he carries a white tuft, not a crest, but a regular tuft. This is about a, quarter of an inch high, and gives the small bird a most fascinating and cheeky appear- ance. The beak is light coloured, and the eyes are peculiar, being surrounded with a light yellow circle. He is always with seven or eight of his own kind, and is a poor flyer, seldom going more than twenty to thirty yards at a time. He reminds me somewhat, in his ways, of what in India were called Sat bhai, seven brothers, as they are always supposed to be in sevens. But now I must relate the most interesting fact in connexion with this curious little bird.
In Northern Nigeria his Haaisa name is "Kare dengi,"— hare, to finish ; dengi, a family ; and he acquired this name for the following reason. An arrow poisoned with the usual strophanthus, &c., will kill the person wounded ; but an arrow poisoned with the addition of the inside and blood of this small bird not only kills the man hit, but his family as well I I have tried hard to discover the origin of the above legend, but although it is known to all intelligent natives locally (and, alas ! believed in), I have so far failed to find any one who knew how it originated. If I can discover the bird's proper name, I shall have accomplished something. They are evidently migratory, as it is only since our rainy season commenced that they have arrived. I can detect no difference between male and female. I have not the heart to shoot a specimen, as they are extraordinarily tame, and, as I have said, most fascinating to look upon.—I am, Sir, &c.,
H. D. LARTstoux
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