Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-27
ting torn by the "wait q bit" thorns.
n Wary Game to Approach.

ting torn BY the "wait bit" thorns. \.
4 Wary Game to Approach.
There were also ostriches. ! saw party
Of cocks, with wings spread and necks
curved backward, strutting and dancing.
Their mincing, springy run is far faster
than, when the birds are near, it seems. The
neck is held back in running, and when at
speed the stride is FL feet. No game is
more wary or more difficult to approach.
/ killed both cock and q hen-which /
found the naturalists valued even more than
cock. We got them by stumbling on the
nest, which contained eleven huge eggs, and
was merely bare spot in the sand, sur
rounded by grass two feet high; the bird lay
crouched, with the neck flat on the ground.
When we accidentally came across the nest
the cock was on it, and failed to get him as
he ran.
The next day we returned, and dismount
ed before we reached the near neighborhood
of the nest Then advanced, cautiously,
my rifle at the ready. 1t seemed impossible
that SO huge bird could lie hidden in such
scanty cover, but not sign did we see until,
when we were 60 yards off, the hen. which
this time was on the nest, rose, and killed
her at 90 yards
Even this did not make the cock desert
the nest; and on subsequent day re-
turned, and after missing him badly,
killed him at IS yeards; and glad was to
see the huge black and white bird tumble in
the dust. He weighed 263 pounds and was
in fine plumage. The hen weighed 24O
pounds AS the cock died it uttered kind
of loud, long-drawn granting boom that was
almost roar.
The "Reticulated" Giraffe.
On the day that shot the cock District
also shot giraffe. The country in which
we were hunting marks the southern limit
of the "reticulated" giraffe, form or spe-
cies entirely distinct from the giraffe we had
already obtained in the country south of
Kenia The southern giraffe is blotched
with dark on light ground, whereas this
northern or northeastern form is of uni
form dark color on the back and sides, with
a network or reticulation of white lines
placed in large pattern on this dark back
ground
On the day in question we saw no sign of
giraffe until late in the afternoon Hour
after hour we plodded across the plain. now
walking, now riding, in the burning heat
The withered grass was as dry as bone
for the country had been many months
without rain; yet the oryx. zebra and gazele
evidently throve on the harsh pasturage
There were innumerable game trails lead
ing hither and thither, and, after the fash
ion of game trails, usually fading out after
few hundred yards. But there were GER
tain trails which did not fade out. These
were the ones which led to the water
One such we followed. 1t led across
stretches of grassland, through thin BUSH
thorny and almost leafless, over tracts of
rotten soil, cracked and crumblng, and over
other tracts where the unshod horses picked
their way gingerly across the masses of
sharp edged volcanic stones Other trails
joined in, and it grew more deeply marked
At last it led to bend in little river
where flat shelves of limestone bordered
kind OF pool in the current where there were
beds of green rushes and fringe of trees
and thorn thickets. This was evidently a
favorite drinking place.
The Games Favorite Drinking Place.
Many trails converged toward it, and for