GAME-BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



but I saw it quite often in British East Africa, where it is 

 quite common. 



Sergt. Davies has made a careful study of this bird, and 

 writes to me of its habits as follows : — 



" Hadada are usually found in fair sized flocks, but some- 

 times in pairs or singly. They feed principally on beetles, 

 locusts and worms which they dig up with their long beaks. 

 They are partial to grassy flats that have been lately burnt, 

 they also haunt cultivated lands and marshy places, and 

 may frequently be found feeding in the bush. They go out 

 to their feeding places at the first streak of dawn, but dm'ing 

 the heat of the day generally resort to the bush or the shade 

 of trees along the banks of rivers. They roost in trees, 

 generall}^ preferring those which overhang water, and are 

 very conservative, returning every night to the same tree. 

 When feeding in the open they are usually very wild, and 

 the best way to shoot them is to wait at sunset under the 

 trees in which they roost, and take them as they come in. 

 Their flight is strong, and often at a great height, but they 

 are not fast. Their sonorous call, from which they get 

 their name, is uttered both when alarmed and while on 

 the wing. They breed in August and September, but 

 I once found a nest containing nearly fledged young at 

 Christmas." 



Messrs. Anderson, Reid, and Ayres have described the 

 nesting-habits of the Hadada. The nest is generally placed 

 in a tree overhanging water, and is a slight structure built 

 of sticks, lined with a little dry grass, and rather flat on the 

 top, so that it is surprising the eggs do not fall out. The 

 usual clutch consists of three eggs ; these are very different 

 from those of the other Ibises, being greenish or greyish-buff, 

 densely covered with brownish splotches and streaks. The 



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