LOCUST BIRDS J 3 



immediately settled again amidst a perfect hail of dropping 

 wings, and the birds would repeat the manoeuvre. 



Dr. Stark describes similar methods employed by the 

 Wattled Starling in mid-air, differing slightly in the detail 

 of the attack. 



In the Central Transvaal we have noticed that the Pratin- 

 cole is exceedingly partial to riving ants, hawking them on 

 the wing after a rain, when these insects usually appear 

 in large numbers. The birds' evolutions in mid-air are 

 exceedingly graceful to watch. 



Mr. Millar records having found a Colony of the Red- 

 wing Pratincole breeding in an old land in Natal. 



The fourth species of Locust Bird is vastly different from 

 the three preceding species, being a Stork — the White Stork 

 of Europe (the Stork of German " baby " fame) — Ciconia 

 ciconia of science. It is also a summer migrant to South 

 Africa, and is irregularly distributed over the country, 

 being more or less dependent on the swarms of locusts 

 which it follows. Within the last two or three years some 

 score of birds with a metal ring on the leg, bearing a number 

 and the name of the institution that placed it there, have 

 been shot, or picked up dead, in South Africa, which proves 

 conclusively that birds hatched in North Germany wander 

 as far south as Basutoland and Cape Provnice. We have also 

 noticed during the last winter or two that a few storks have 

 wintered over in South Africa, and other observers have 

 reported the same fact from various parts of the country. 

 It breeds chiefly in Holland and Germany. 



It is a white bird with black wings, a long red bill, and 

 long red legs. Length, about 45 inches. 



The last of the " Locust " Birds is the White-bellied Stork 

 (Abdimia abdimii), a slightly glossy blackjbird with a white 



