TWO KINDS OF PLOVER I7I 



you, but cannot get at you so as to kick, that being its 

 most dangerous form of attack. One often hears of the 

 "digestion of an Ostrich," as a matter of fact they are, 

 I believe, very deHcate birds, requiring constant care 

 and attention. A prolonged drought, which in any way 

 affects their supply of food, causes them to fall out of 

 condition in a very short time. The Ostrich industry 

 still seems to pay, and is largely cultivated in many 

 districts in the Colony. 



After these farms are passed through, the road 

 leading to the Knysna Heads continues along a flat tract 

 of land scarcely raised above the level of the estuary 

 itself, the latter being on the right hand side of the road, 

 and an extensive piece of low-lying ground, known as 

 Horn's Marshes on the left. These marshes are almost 

 impenetrable towards the centre, being composed of 

 thick rushes and aquatic vegetation, beneath which lie 

 three or four feet of water and soft mud, and here on 

 a November morning^ during the breeclinof season the 

 metallic bleat of the Snipe may often be heard as the 

 bird descends towards the marshy ground from a great 

 height in the air, rising after each descent, to fall again. 

 The late Mr. L. C. Layard in his comprehensive work 

 on South African birds, says that in the far interior the 

 noise made by these birds, well known in England by the 

 name of " drumming," has earned for them the title 

 of Spook Vogel, or Ghost-bird, by the Boers. This 

 would seem to be originated by the bird occasionally 

 drumming on moonlight nights, sometimes as late as 

 midnight. We saw a few Harriers sailing over this 

 marsh, just clearing the tops of the reeds, into which 

 they would now and then drop down ; doubtless some 



