78 FRIENDS OF THE AGRICULTURIST 



Here again we must quote Mr. Thomsen. In the 

 Journal of the South African Ornithologists Union, he 

 gives a succinct account of its usefulness as a locust 

 destroyer, asserting that not only does it devour both 

 the mature insects and voetgangers, but it also scratches 

 up and eats large numbers of their eggs. He instances 

 cases in which he personally observed flocks of wild 

 Guinea fowl surrounding and devouring swarms of voet- 

 gangers. The Guinea fowl also feeds on roots and weed 

 seeds, besides other insect pests such as termites and the 

 like. It is credited with doing damage to newly sown 

 fields and to ripening crops, but the good it does probably 

 outweighs the harm. 



In its black plumage, speckled all over with round dots 

 of white, naked head and neck and a bony helmet, it is a 

 familiar bird to nearly every South African. The Squeakers 

 — as the young flying birds of the year are called — are 

 void of the helmet, the top of the head being longitudi- 

 nally striped with pale rufous and dull black. The feathers 

 of the body have also a shade of tawny here and there. 



It is exceedingly common in the tracts of bush-country 

 from the Eastern Cape Province northwards to the Zambesi. 

 In the neighbourhood of Brandfort, Orange Free State, it 

 is very plentiful amongst some of the mimosa belts and 

 forms a favourite item in the sportsman's bag. 



It is now also common in the eucalyptus plantations on 

 the Rand. 



In the Eastern Cape Province the Crowned Guinea fowl is 

 a bird that will appear and gradually increase in a, neighbour- 

 hood for some years, and then suddenly die out. Prom the 

 examination of specimens shot, the cause of the disappear- 

 ance is probably partial extermination by the Wire-worm so 

 common in ostrich veld. About ten years ago these birds 

 were plentiful in the immediate neighbourhood of Grahams- 



