Pigeons are frequent both in Shoa and in the eastern provinces. Wani, Ergeb, and Kumroo, are appellations of different kinds, all too wild to tempt the Abyssinian to any exertion to catch or domesticate them. Wani is the largest, above brown, below slaty-grey; the head grey, with a black zone across the sinciput. Another is all grey, except a white zone on the upper neck, and a collar of darker arrow-headed feathers; a third also grey, but with a white head, and brown edges on the wing-feathers. Ergeb has a peculiarly inflated beak; head and neck grey, shoulders and back olive-green, breast and belly citron-yellow, wing and tail-feathers whitish edged and tipped. Kumroo is the turtle-dove, one kind of which has elongated tail-feathers.
Otis Arabs, the largest bustard, which is as swift as the ostrich, destroys a great number of locusts and scorpions, and is therefore never eaten. Another smaller bustard (Wato) is variously coloured; it lives on the borders of the desert. Charadrius spinosus is a rare visitor of the lakes near the Háwash. Tachydromus isabellinus is an inhabitant of the plains of Efát; and Himantopus atropterus of the morasses near Angollála.
Abundance of water makes the provinces of Shoa a favourite place of resort to many species of Grallatores. Among the herons are remarkable Ardea ephippiorhyncha, and another called Alaka fattah, having particularly long wing-feathers of a darker colour than the remainder of the body, which is above grey, below white. The former lives in the valley of the Abai, the latter about Angollála, but migrates also to the West. Smaller kinds, as Garzetta, Nycticorax, arrive from the North in February, but commonly pass on still more southward, whence they return in May. Ibis religiosa stays for some months on the lakes of the upper country; Numenius, spec. (Gaga), about Ankóber. The common snipe, some kinds of peewits, the spoonbill, and the flamingo, sometimes extend their migrations as far as Shoa.
Geese and ducks swarm unmolested over the lakes of the western provinces; a few descend also to the plain. Chenalopex Egyptiacus builds its nest upon high trees on the river side in Efát. Another rare species carries on the frontal basis a thinly-feathered flexible bunch. All the birds of this class are strangely inapprehensive of danger when moulting or hatching. During their stay in Shoa they are occupied with both of these processes, but the rigorous proscriptions regarding food usually afford them protection.
Of Mammalia, the Rodentia seem to have no great extension through the cultivated provinces of Shoa. One small house rat (Eid), and a field mouse, Otomys albicaudatus, are very obnoxious indeed to the grain, but snares and traps keep them easily down on well-managed farms. Lepus capensis (Dindjel) frequents more the plains both of the low and of the up country, and does little damage. To eat of its flesh would be considered downright criminality, not less than myophagy itself. Hystrix cristata (Shart) lives only in abandoned termite-cones in the desert. A very rare large squirrel is found upon tamarind trees.
Cattle-breeding is, on the whole, in a more advanced state among the Galla than among the Amhára, who prefer agricultural pursuits. The common sheep (Bug) of Shoa is small, with coarse black wool; the Adaïel have the Hejaz lamb, short haired, with fat tail; the Galla, a most superior tall fleecy kind, also with fat tail, and without horns. With the latter the Amhára cross their breed. The Galla of Northern Abyssinia rear a peculiar kind with immensely long hair, commonly white; its fleece, dyed black, and then called Lophisa, is a dress much prized by chiefs and men of renown throughout the country. The cured skin (Dabbalo) of the common sheep is an indispensable part of the male dress. From the wool a kind of camlet cloth is woven. Goats (Fial) thrive better in the mountains; they are tall, horned, with short matted hair of many colours; in fact, quite identical with the European kind. The Adel have no breed of their own, but drive down annually from the Shoan marts vast herds into their savannas.
The Abyssinian horse (Feras) is small, and held in little repute. The donkey (Aheia), of a sturdy and strong race, is indispensable to communication and commerce, and as a beast of burthen suffers less than the camel from long privation. The mule (Bagalo), higher priced than the mare itself, is eminently useful in the hills, being more sure-footed and better-winded than the horse; it is, however, much better cared for. The she mules are larger and stouter, but the males are the most enduring. The breed from the horse-mare and donkey-stallion is patronised by the Abyssinians, but despised by their more warlike neighbours, the Galla, with whom the horse is a favourite. A wild donkey (Ya meida aheia, neither Zebra nor Quagga), a little larger than the common ass, herds in the prairies of the Adaïel country, and is timid, cautious, and swift of foot.
Bullocks (Beri or Ferita) are similar to the Zebu, but the hump is smaller. Some Galla tribes possess a peculiar breed (Sanga), the horns of which attain an enormous size, and serve for bottles; from the smaller horns drinking-cups are manufactured. The calves are not used for food. No work except dragging the plough and thrashing is required of the ox.
The wild buffalo (Gosh), Bubalus Pegasus, fierce and as yet untamed, inhabits the forests and jungles of Bulga and Mentshar all along the river Háwash; its chase is considered one of the most dangerous pursuits of the hunter, several human lives being frequently expended on the conquest of one beast. Strepsiceros capensis (Agazin), and Oryx capensis (Sala), are hunted on the borders of the desert. In the latter species, accident sometimes causes the loss of one horn,—a fact which probably gave rise to the story of the unicorn; moreover, the parallel horns are placed so near each other, that when the animal is seen en profile from a distance, it might well appear single-horned. Gazella Mhorr wanders in large herds through the desert; Antilope Saltiana (Medaqua) abounds from the sea-coast to the foot of the mountains.
Hyrax Abyssinicus (Ashkoko), a harmless inhabitant of nooks and corners of the rocks, is common to Shoa as well as to the hills of the Adel. Bruce’s Rhinoceros (Worsisa), combining the more striking characters of the Asiatic and African species, that is, the two horns of the latter and the plaits and folds of the former, deserves a closer investigation; it lives in the deep jungles of Mentshar, on the banks of the Háwash. Phascochoerus Africanus (Erya), the African hog, infests the woods of the warmer districts, and is a horrible-looking brute. Hippopotamus amphibius (Gomari) hides its colossal frame during the day in the floods of the Háwash, the Jumma, and other large rivers and lakes. The Wato, a certain caste among the Galla, subsist upon its flesh; and the thick skin is cut into shields or whips. Elephas Africanus (Zihoon) is dispersed in many small families, and destroys the plantations of sugar-cane and Juwarree along the foot of the mountains. Not the slightest attempt is made to put a stop to his ravages, the paltry weapons in use being of no avail, whilst severe loss of life follows the footsteps of the enraged animal. A small trade in ivory is notwithstanding carried on with the coast in the tusks found accidentally.