NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



it becomes very wild and suspicious, and usually 

 retires from the haunts of man. 



The bustards (otherwise known as paauws and 

 knorhaans) and the various species of plovers are 

 hunted and shot in such numbers that in many districts 

 they have been almost, if not quite, exterminated, 

 notwithstanding the fact that they render sterling 

 service to the agriculturist and stock farmer. Their 

 chief diet consists of insect and allied forms of life. 

 They devour immense numbers of " white ants," 



locusts, grasshoppers, vegeta- 

 tion-destroying grubs, cater- 

 pillars, and beetles. The wild 

 duck renders excellent service 

 by checking the growth of 

 water plants, and feeding on 

 water snails which act as 

 hosts in the life cycle of some 

 stock and human diseases. 

 All past experience shows 

 that the preservation and protection of insect-eating 

 birds is not only essential in the interests of the 

 individual farmer, but is of vital importance in the 

 interests of food production in South Africa. 



A true sportsman should surely not desire to 

 raise his gun against any creature which he knew was 

 helping him and his race in their struggle for existence. 

 He may argue he is a townsman, and the birds do not 

 in any way benefit him. This would be an extremely 

 narrow and selfish view to take. The villages, towns, 

 and cities depend largely and often entirely on the 



136 



Food House attached to wall 

 of shed. This is a very 

 tine feeding shelter. 



