136 ORNAMENTS OF THE VELD 



tive cries. Its characteristic call is truly typical of 

 the veld, and is well known to every South African 

 sportsman. It may also often be heard on moonlight 

 nights. 



It is a good friend of the farmer, feeding on insects 

 of various kinds and weed seeds. The flesh is palatable. 



It lays its eggs usually three in number and of a 

 yellowish-brown colour blotched with dark and purplish- 

 brown in a slight hollow on the ground. 



The Black- winged Plover (S. melanopterus) has the 

 front of the crown white and the hinder portion slate 

 coloured. 



Although fairly widely distributed, it is not a very 

 common bird. Like the Crowned Lapwing and the 

 Coursers, it is very partial to burnt stretches of veld, 

 where it usually nests, laying its three or four eggs in 

 a depression in the soil ; they are very bold in defend- 

 ing their eggs. These may be searched for during the 

 months of August to October, and do not differ very 

 much from those of the Crowned Lapwing. 



OSTRICH. 



The last bird which may be included in this chapter, 

 is the well-known and long domesticated ostrich 

 (Struthio australis). This enormous member of the 

 Avian race is included in the separate sub-class, the 

 Ratitce, possessing no keel to the sternum or breast bone. 

 The Ostriches form the Family Struthionidce, of which 

 the African Continent possesses several species. 



In the old " voortrekker " and Pioneer days, the Ostrich 

 roamed over the veld in a perfectly wild state, in com- 

 pany with the Gnus and Antelopes, but since about 1870 



