106 NATURE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



as is the havoc wrought by locusts in South Africa, 

 in varying cycles, their ravages would be immeasur- 

 ably magnified but for the unwearying exertions 

 of the feathered armies of the locust-bird. The 

 upper colouring of these birds is ashy-brown with 

 a greenish tint ; the wing-feathers are black ; the 

 throat is creamy white, the breast ashy. A gorget 

 or collar separates the neck and breast. The 

 stomach is snowy white; the legs, eyelids, and 

 cere are red. In length the bird averages a little 

 under a foot. The tail and wings are sharply 

 pointed. 



Another singular South African plover is the tiny 

 treble-collared plover, the sea-cow bird of interior 

 hunters. This diminutive little creature — only 

 about six inches long — is neatly arrayed in brown 

 upon the upper parts, black and white underneath ; 

 upon the throat appear the three distinctive collars, 

 first of black, then of white, then of black again. 

 Sea-cow, or, in Boer-Dutch, zee-koe, is the colonial 

 name for the hippopotamus ; and the treble- collared 

 plover takes its colonial designation (sea-cow bird) 

 from its frequent habit of attending the unwieldy 

 Behemoth. Running about the back and head of 

 that amphibian, picking off insects and other odds 

 and ends, this little plover seems perfectly at home, 

 while the sea-cow apparently accepts its offices in 

 good part. This friendship between wild and often 



