10 FRIENDS OF THE AGRICULTURIST 



Stork (Abdimia abdimii), a slightly glossy black bird 

 with a white back and white underparts. It is also a 

 follower of the locust swarms, and breeds in Northern 

 Africa. 



There is no over-estimating the good all these birds 

 do in devouring large numbers of that terrible scourge 

 to South African agriculture the locusts, and yet even 

 the large quantities of locusts the birds devour do not 

 seem to make any appreciable difference in the number 

 of the insects. 



BUNTINGS. 



Starting with the Passeres, the Buntings are our next 

 group of friends. 



The Cape Bunting (Fringillaria capensis), or Streep- 

 kopje (striped head) as the Boers term it, is a tame and 

 confiding little bird, living amongst the rocky kopjes on 

 the veld or on stony ridges in the vicinity of dwellings, 

 where it creeps about amongst the crannies looking for 

 the insects which form its staple diet. 



They are rare in Albany but are more plentiful at Crad- 

 dock and the Orange River Colony ; in the latter country 

 we took many nests, some as late as March. They build 

 a cup-shaped nest in a low bush under a rock and lay 

 three or four pale greenish eggs, thickly marked with 

 yellow and red-brown blotches and spots. 



It is of a brownish tint, streaked with black above, and 

 whitish below. The sides of the head are ornamented 

 with four alternate black and white streaks, from which 

 it derives its Dutch name. 



The smaller Rock Bunting (F. tahapisi) is also rare 

 in Albany, but is fairly common in the Orange Eiver 

 Colony and parts of the Transvaal, notably at Irene, near 

 Pretoria. One clutch of eggs was taken at Bluekrantz, 



