Game Birds of South Africa. 25 



and both I and my horse were hit by the hail. A£ter the 

 shower was over I continued down the donga and found the 

 Partridges right underneath an overhanging bank of the 

 donga, wht^re they were completely sheltered. I am satisfied 

 that they had in some vvjiy become aware of the impending 

 hail-storm and had flown off' for shelter, as it is most unusual 

 to see these birds fly in the middle of the day, unless dis- 

 turbed. The grass was short from where they rose, and I 

 am confident that nothing living fright?ned them up. 



When flushe.l Grrey Wing generally rise with shrill squeaks 

 from all the members of the covey, which is a very distinctive 

 feature of this species, quite sutficient to distinguish it from 

 the other species I know. 



The feeding-time of these birds is from sunrise to about 

 10 A.M.; and from 4 p.m. till dusk, during the winter months, 

 and in summer they feed earlier in the morning and later iu 

 the afternoon. 



The scratchings of this bird can generally be distinguished 

 from those of Larks and other small animals by the mark of 

 the bill at the apex of the scratchings, where it was inserted 

 to l"ver out the bulb or root that was being searched for. 



The chief enemies of the Grey Wing other than man 

 appear to be the numerous Hawks found in the Karroo and 

 the Secretary Birds, but I have no doubt that wild cats, 

 jackals, and red miercats do a fair share in the killing. I 

 have seen a Falcon, the South-African Lanner, stoop at 

 Partridges I have flushed, but without success. When a 

 boy my father used to take me out with him when he went 

 shooting on the Cradock Commonage. My father knew the 

 whereabouts of, I think, every covey of birds on that com- 

 monage, of about 25,000 acres, and whenever he saw a Hawk 

 hovering or flying about in the neighbourhood of the part in 

 which birds were Kkely to be found he would first go to the 

 spot where the Hawk had been seen, and I can recall many 

 occasions when the covey was found there. Also when 

 unable to find a covey in its usual locality he would watch 

 the Hawks and hunt where they were hunting, generally 



