Birds in the Cradock and Tarkasiad Districts 1 75 



many of them are fairly thickly covered with Aloes, Speckboom 

 and small bushes about a foot high; these gradually diminish as 

 we go further westwards until the Swagershoek mountains are 

 reached, their place there being taken by red and other grasses. 



To the north-west the aspect of the country is somewhat 

 different. There the mountains are lower with their sides fairly 

 densely covered with an entirely different growth, chiefly Besom 

 and Rhenoster bush and grass. This is the home of the Partridge, 

 Francolinus afer (Latham) and some very excellent sport is to be 

 had in those parts. Along the banks of the sluits the soil is deep 

 alluvial in which grows a dense scrub consisting of Karreebosch 

 and Blaauwbosch and a thick undergrowth of grass and smaller 

 bushes. Bird life on this and the western side of the district is 

 fairly plentiful but very limited as regards number of species. 



On the northern and eastern sides of the district the country is 

 totally different, consisting of miles and miles of treeless flats, 

 broken here and here by low, dolorite kopjes and rands. The 

 monotony of these flats is somewhat relieved by hills forming their 

 boundaries. One can drive for miles on these flats without seeing 

 a tree, beyond those planted round the homesteads. The vege- 

 tation consists of karroo bush and grass with a few stunted Karree- 

 bosches dotted about here and there and occasionally a few 

 prickly pear bushes. At the foot of the hills bounding these flats 

 we get a few stunted Mimosa trees growing on the banks of the 

 ravines that carry the water dovm from the hills. In this part of 

 the district bird life is very plentiful but confined chiefly to 

 Alaudidae, Motacillidae, Limicolae, and Pteroclidae, and 

 Otididae. 



The Southern and south-eastern sides of the district are very 

 similar to the western side, but less mountainous and more heavily 

 wooded, especially along the banks of the Fish and Tarka Rivers. 

 The soil on the banks of these rivers consists of a very rich, deep 

 alluvial extending for many hundreds of yards on either bank and 

 supporting a heavy growth of tall Mimosa and smaller bushes such 

 as Karree and Ganna, the whole forming a thick scrub ideal for 

 the support of bird life and it is in this part of the district that bird 

 life is most plentiful, both in numbers and species. 



