BIRDS AS SCAVENGERS 



The South African rook is usually seen in pairs, 

 or a family consisting of the parents and the previous 

 season's brood, and each pair have a certain area over 

 which they rule, and they remain in possession unless 

 driven out by another pair of birds. Rooks, however, 

 often assemble on cornfields in numbers and eat a 

 portion of the newly planted or sprouting corn, but it 

 is very doubtful if the quantity of corn they eat counter- 

 balances the destructive insects they devour during 

 the rest of the year. It would be far more profitable 

 for the farmer to employ native boys to patrol his fields 

 during this short period than to poison the rooks. 



BIRDS AS SCAVENGERS 



Vultures are the feathered scavengers of Nature. 

 Their mission in life is to eat up the dead bodies of 

 animals which, if allowed to rot away, would poison 

 the atmosphere and sow disease microbes broadcast. 

 The diseased flesh, when swallowed by a vulture, is 

 rapidly digested, and all the harmful bacteria are 

 destroyed by its gastric juices. In the past, before the 

 advent of man into South Africa, the vulture {Aas Vogel) 

 and the white - necked raven (Ring-hals) rendered 

 sterling service in keeping disease epidemics in check. 

 When a plague broke out in a herd of antelopes, for 

 instance, the vultures and ravens gathered in thousands, 

 ate up the victims, and left only the bones and splashes 



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