Page 119 - Devotion Among Animals Revealing the Work of God

Small birds sometimes perch on other larger animals and warn them of any
danger by crying aloud.

good reason. The elephants had enormous ears and excellent
hearing but poor eye-sight, whilst the giraffes were like sentries
posted on watch-towers. When they combined their capacities it
was almost impossible to get near them without being heard or
seen. A still stranger combination was formed by the rhinosceros
and the rhinosceros-birds which sat in a row on its back preying on
the ticks and other parasites with which its skin was infested.
These birds were always on the alert and generally discovered my
presence long before their short-sighted host knew of it. With shrill
cries and vigorous pecks they stirred the rhinoceros into action and
away the great beast swung with the birds precariously clinging to
its back like outside passengers on a madly careering coach. 112

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