'6G Mr. F. Thomson on 



was short — some did not even reach Lichtenburg ; hundreds, 

 in fact thousands, of the South African Kestrel (^Tinnuncidns 

 rujncola), accompanied by some Large African Kestrels 

 ( T. riqncoloides) and Lesser Kestrels { T. naiimanni), followed 

 the slow-moving young adult locusts, eating them in vast 

 numbers. Some eye-witnesses say that they had never seen 

 so many Kestrels together. Tinnimculus riipicola, like all 

 birds-of-prey, catch the flying locusts with their claws, eating 

 the insect piecemeal on the wing, very seldom settling down 

 on an ant-heap to finish the meal. The wings and hind legs 

 of the locust are dropped. Reichenow (pp. 1, 640, & 645) as 

 well as Andersson and Brehm (vi. p. 256) report on the 

 utility of these birds. These Kestrels are everywhere recog- 

 nized as locust-destroyers and in some countries even con- 

 sidered as sacred. Brehm (vi. p. 257) believes that the 

 Tinnunculus came to South Africa from the North by follow- 

 ing the locust-swarms, and finding the country to its liking, 

 and food plentiful, remained. The fact is that two of the 

 three species of Tinnunculus now breed in South Africa, 

 although only in small numbers. In summer they appear in 

 swarms, whether migrated from the North or collected to- 

 gether locally is difficult to ascertain. 



I noticed a few days ago several pairs of T. rupicoloides to 

 the west of Pretoria, catching flying locusts. They do not 

 seem to like the rushing noise of the flying swarm, and get 

 out of the way, only commencing the chase when the main 

 body has passed, catching the stragglers and weaklings. 



The Guinea Fowl. {Numida coronata.) 



Both Andersson and Reichenow mention this bird as a 

 locust-destroyer. There are also several reports on this bird 

 in the ' Cape Agricultural Journal ' (1896, p. 332). I have 

 known the Gruinea Fowl for a long time as a great feeder on 

 both flying locusts and voetgangers, as well as the locusts' 

 eggs. I have seen flocks of a hundred and more of these 

 birds getting round a voctganger swarm, doing away with 

 it. in a short time. In some years, very likely on account 

 of the great number of locusts, the Guinea Fowl rears 



