Locuxt Birch hi the TvausvaaJ. 50 



^Xnno-ers in a patch of mealies : the stalks were covered with 

 the little fellows, lookino" reddish brown from a distance. 

 Just heyond the field a flock of White-bellied Storks were 

 feeding. I took up a good position and watched. The 

 nearest birds to the mealie-land saw the voetoano-ers and 

 moved towards them, the others following. Soon the birds 

 were amongst the mealies picking otf' the young locusts as 

 they hopped about, but this did not last long ; I saw the birds 

 moving out of the fields, so I went nearer to ascertain whether 

 all the voetgangers had been finished up, but found, however, 

 most of them hiilden under the leaves and clods, or in cracks 

 of the ground, where they were out of sight of the birds. 

 The Storks returned later, and it was only by catching the 

 young voetgangers outside of cover that the birds managed 

 to procure them. Something of the sort can also be seen in 

 the case of the flying insects. As soon as they find them- 

 selves hunted by Pratincoles or Kestrels they fall to the 

 ground, get out of sight as much as possible in the long grass, 

 and are safe for some time, as the Pratincole is not fond of 

 taking food off' the ground. These two instances should 

 sufiice to show that the locusts have a knowledge of the 

 danger, and try to escape. Let us take the case of the Brown 

 Locust, " Pachyfylus sxdcicoUis." Li December or January 

 when the young adults start flying slowly about they are a 

 gi-eat attraction to all kinds of birds, which hunt them every- 

 where, and the locusts try hard to get away. Wherever 

 they go they ar(^ attacked, and the birds often follow them 

 for days ; the hunted insect moves on and on till it happens 

 to come to a place where birds are rare and far between, such 

 as some part of the Kalahari Desert. 



Our principal locust-eaters, such as the Glareola, the 

 Dilophus, or the Storks, are forced to a certain extent to keep 

 near water. Others, like the Guinea-fowl, the Francolina\, 

 &c., are more stationary birds, and never leave their breedino-- 

 places for a long while ; they are also mostly to be found in 

 the neighbourhood of water and rivers. There are districts 

 in the Kalahari where rain is, virtually speaking, unknown, 

 sometimes ten years go by without a drop of rain ; it stands 



