20 The South African Birds of Prey 



and other insects, lizards, snakes, rats, &c., it feeds largely, 

 according to Ivy's observations, upon game birds such as 

 francolin, pheasants, &c. This is substantiated by Ayres 

 and Butler. It is a pugnacious bird and a great poultry 

 thief. On the other hand, Mr. Harold Fry records that 

 a pair discovered nesting by him in Natal appeared to 

 feed their young almost exclusively on insects, spiders, 

 &c. This bird is black above and rufous below, except- 

 ing the abdomen and thighs, which are black, mottled 

 with reddish and white. 



The Steppe Buzzard {Buteo desertorum) is also a bad 

 poultry thief, although it makes away with a number of 

 noxious insects. According to Distant, it is a great source 

 of trouble to the farmers around Pretoria, and Claude 

 Taylor also reports it as a depredatory bird, kilhng 

 chickens, duckhngs, &c. One of these birds entered my 

 fowlhouse one day, the commotion amongst the poultry 

 attracted notice, and the bird was caught and killed with 

 its claws fastened deep into the back of a full-grown hen. 

 The Steppe Buzzard is light-brown above, the feathers 

 marked with darker shaft-streaks, and a patchy white 

 spot on the nape of the neck ; below dusky-brown, barred 

 with white. 



The African Goshawk {Astur tachiro) is also well 

 known as a poultry-thief. It is a bird seldom, if ever, 

 found away from bush or forest regions. The Woodwards 

 record the case of a full-grown fowl being carried away 

 by one of these birds, and both Ivy and myself have 

 experienced instances of its thieving qualities. Never- 

 theless, like the majority of our birds of prey, it will feed 

 on grasshoppers, locusts, &c. This bird is dark slate 

 above, and white below, narrowly barred (in the case of 

 the adult) with brown. The flanks and thighs are tinged 

 with rufous. The young birds are spotted on the under- 

 side instead of banded. 



