102 NATURE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



gunner, as I have said, sometimes driven to despera- 

 tion, at last turns upon the feathered plagues, and 

 wastes a charge or two of shot upon them. This 

 plover, sometimes called the ''blacksmith plover," 

 from the metallic ring of its voice, is a handsome 

 species, garbed wholly in black and white; the 

 curious sharp spur upon the point or shoulder of 

 each wing, from which it takes its other name of 

 spur-wing, distinguishes it readily from all its family. 

 It is seldom found far from water. 



There is another South African plover, the 

 wreathed plover, or well-known "kiewitje" (the 

 diminutive of " kiewit," a name manifestly adopted, 

 like our English *' peewit," from the cry of the bird) 

 of the Dutch Boers, which shares in a lesser 

 degree in the noisy habits of the spur- wing. This 

 beautiful bird is found throughout the length and 

 breadth of South and South-Central Africa, and its 

 shrill, mournful cry is one of the best-remembered 

 night-sounds of the wilderness. The spur-wing is 

 usually found in small flocks, seldom exceeding half- 

 a-dozen members. The kiewitje often flies in bands 

 of from twenty to forty, and the sight of a human 

 being is pretty certain to call up a chorus of sharp 

 cries from the noisy creatures. They do not, how- 

 ever, pursue the traveller with so inveterate a hatred 

 as the spur-winged plover, and indeed are often to 

 be found in constant attendance round the hut or 



