Game Birds of South Africa. 27 



proportion of cock birds were shot. I came to the conclusion 

 that the cock birds who had either not obtained a partner 

 during the season, or lost their hens and reared no brood, 

 were forced to keep together, having been driven away from 

 the hens by other broodless cocks who had gathered the 

 broodless hens into coveys. The cocks are very pugnacious 

 birds, and an old pair of birds will chase away any young 

 birds who may attempt to nest in their neighbourhood. 

 Unless the old birds are killed off it will never, in my ex- 

 perience, be found that the birds increase, by preventing all 

 shooting. Where one covey alone was found before, there 

 one covey alone will be found each year. When, however, 

 the old birds are shot, and this can easily be done by a good 

 shot somewhat early in the season, as it is then easy to pick 

 out the two biggest birds as they rise, and in addition if only 

 the first birds which rise are shot they will generally be 

 found to be the wary old birds, the young birds will nest and 

 rear coveys closer to one another. If this is regularly done 

 for a few years, and the birds otherwise not disturbed, the 

 stock of Partridges will soon be brought up to the maximum 

 the ground can carry, which depends on the food-supply. 

 Considering the great quantities of the bulbs on which Grey 

 Wing feed in all parts of the Karroo, the saturation point 

 should not be easily reached. 



The nests are cup-shaped, somewhat deep, carefully lined 

 with grass, placed under shelter of a bush or tuft of grass, 

 and containing from eight to fifteen eggs. The eggs are 

 slightly larger than those of tame Pigeons and spotted with 

 minute brown spots on a dull-coloured background. The 

 spots vary, and sometimes the eggs are blotched with 

 brown. 



The True Red Wing. {Francoliims levaillanti.) 

 I found these birds for the first time on a farm called 

 White Bank, at the head of the Mancazana Valley, District 

 Bedford, Cape Colony, when a boy. I did not, however, 

 succeed in shooting any, but saw some that had been shot, 

 and received the impression that they were much larger than 



