We inherited a Birds of Southern Africa field guide from the previous
volunteers at our site. It is a favorite among our neighborhood kids
because of the many color illustrations, and they often request to
'read' it. Now people have started to bring us bird specimens they
have caught or killed so that we can identify them together. The other
might our neighbor, Romao, opened the door and threw a quail at Luc
while he was relaxing on the couch. Romao and Janet thought it was
hilarious, Luc and the bird thought otherwise. Another day our
neighbor Seni brought a brilliantly-plumed pygmy kingfisher he had
killed with his sling shot. We assumed the killing was gratuitous
until he appeared a few hours later with an extremely small grilled
bird carcass on a skewer, which he seemed to find delectable. We also
tree the guide book to identify a white-faced owl which perched on our
roof one night. While owls are a symbol of wisdom for us, our
neighbors were very worried since here this bird is a sure omen of
death or sickness. Janet did get dysentery that week, but I think the
events were unrelated!
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