1 68 THE PLANT SUCCESSION IN THE THOKN VELD. 



thus be deposited ultimately below the thorn trees like the seeds 

 which are carried by birds. 



Of the species included in the list given above, about 60 

 per cent, have fruits which are fleshy, and are obviously distri- 

 buted by birds and other animals. The remainder have dry 

 fruits, but the seeds of many are eaten, and presumably some 

 are not digested. Others (e.g.. Plumbago capensis) are carried 

 on the coats of animals. Various water birds, such as the 

 ducks, teals, herons, storks, cranes, bitterns, as well as snipe, 

 plover, etc., feed in the colonization areas where the seeds of 

 the various species have fallen on to the mud by the side of the 

 water. These birds fly from one area to another, and carry 

 seeds or fruits adhering to their feet or bills. As to the feeding 

 habits of the birds and other animals of South Africa, while 

 various general observations have been made, little in the way 

 of detail is known. This is unfortunate, because there arc 

 many points in which the ecology of animals and plants should 

 be connected, and the complete story of the succession in none 

 of our plant communities will be thoroughly understood until 

 this connection is demonstrated. Among the birds of South 

 Africa, the Columbcc (pigeons), of w'hich there are about a 

 dozen species, feed mostly on the fruits of trees, and are of 

 j)rime importance in connection with the dispersal of seeds. 

 Some of them are very fond of acacia pods. There are also 

 about a dozen dift'erent kinds of starling, which eat fruits and 

 seeds as well as grubs, beetles, termites, etc. Other birds which 

 are important as distributing agents are the orioles, the thick- 

 billed weaver bird (Aiiiblyospi::a alhifroiis), bulbuls (three or 

 four kinds), one or tw^o of the thrushes, the bush black ca]) 

 {Lioptiliis nigricapilhis), the mouse birds, the trumpeter horn- 

 bill (Bycauistes hucinator) and other hornbills, the barbets and 

 tinker birds, the Knysna plantain-eater or lourie {Turacus cory- 

 thaiv), and two other louries and the parrots. These are all 

 fruit-eaters. The great host of weaver birds, waxbills, finches, 

 widow birds, buntings, seed-eaters, canaries, larks, etc., eat small 

 fruits and seeds as well as insects, but they are not of so much 

 importance. 



Among the mammals, the fruit bats, which are common, 

 are, as the name implies, fruit-eaters, and it is important to 

 note that they often carry the fruit away with them to feed on 

 it at their leisure. The squirrels are also very important ; not 

 only do they eat berries and fruits, but they collect and bury 

 stores of nuts, some of which remain and germinate. Sclater* 

 states that the chief food of the vervet (Cercopithecits lalandii) 

 is the gum and fruits of acacias. The baboon (Papio porcarius) 

 is omnivorous, and eats fruits amongst other things. The 

 lemur or bush baby (Galago moholi) lives on pulpy fruits and 

 insects. The bush pig (Potamocharrus chxropotamus) eats 

 roots and fruits. The duiker, springbok, kudu, eland, inyala, 

 bushbok and other antelopes eat fruits as well as grass and 



*Sclater, W. L.. "The Fauna of South Africa— Mammals " (1901). 



