Game Birds of South Africa. 23 



but never by me in certain coarse grass growing thicker and 

 longer than the red grass and known as " Kuper Draad " 

 (Ancflice Copper Wire) by the Boers, which is plentiful 

 there, and which to look at should form an ideal covert for 

 the birds. In July last 3'ear I counted over twenty birds in 

 a covey, and I am of opinion that there were thirty at least 

 in that covey; they flew out of sight before I could complete 

 the counting. When found amid the rugged mountainous 

 surroundings where I was shooting them, last July they 

 offer very sporting shots, as they are often found close to the 

 edge of a precipice fifty to five hundred feet deep, sheer 

 down into a deep valley. The instant such coveys- were 

 flushed they would dive down over the edge, giving very- 

 difficult shooting, with perhaps a walk of half a mile or more 

 to recover any birds killed. The view from the mountains, 

 at that time flecked with snow, added to the charm of the 

 excellent sport I enjoyed, while the damp ground gave the 

 dogs every assistance in using their noses, and the snow 

 gave them a cooling roll when hot. In most cases in the 

 mountains birds are either flying upwards or downwards, 

 causing the man accustomed to shoot in the flat country 

 about here to make many disgraceful misses which he cannot 

 account for at first. 



These birds are very fond of frequenting cultivated lands 

 to pick up grain, and I have been informed by several 

 farmers, living in the parts where I was shooting, that in 

 the mountains they will scratch out and eat potatoes. Their 

 favourite food, however, is a small bulb forming portion of 

 the root of a species of rush, some varieties of which are 

 found wherever I have been in South Africa. In the 

 Sneeuwberg they also eat the bulbous root of a plant which 

 I have not yet had identified, as I have never found it in 

 flower. I have asked one of my brothers, on whose farm it 

 grows plentifully, to gather and press some plants in flower 

 for me for indentification. These birds will also eat grubs, 

 beetles, locusts, and ants, as will all the Partridges. When 

 locusts are about in the wingless stage these birds become 

 excessively fat, but I have not known their flesh to have a 



