THE GAME BIRDS OF CAPE COLONY. 321 



resembles the common koorhaan, measuring some 

 nineteen or twenty inches in length, and it is 

 abundant on the karroo, though not quite so 

 commonly met with as the black koorhaan. This 

 bird has a habit of squatting very closely, and can 

 be frequently approached pretty easily in consequence. 

 It is a good sporting and table bird. 



Perhaps the most beautiful of the smaller Cape 

 bustards is the blue koorhaan, Eupodotis cczrulescens, 

 a bird not found so generally distributed as the two 

 last-named. I came across it occasionally in the 

 Eastern province in open or sparsely bushed country. 

 Its colour is mainly blue, the top of the head, back 

 and front of neck, and the breast and stomach being 

 all of that colour. The upper part of the throat and 

 the forehead are black, and the rest of the bird is of 

 a reddish brown colour. The legs are yellow, and 

 there are one or two white markings round and upon 

 the top of the head. This is a singularly striking 

 bird, but it is somewhat capriciously distributed, 

 mainly in the Eastern province. When once found, 

 however, it is fairly plentiful, and gives capital sport. 



One other bustard (the Eupodotis afroides of Sir 

 Andrew Smith) concludes the list. This species, 

 differing very little from the common black koorhaan, 

 is occasionally met with just south of the Orange 

 River, but can hardly be classed as one of the 

 ordinary sporting birds of the Colony. 



The common quail (Coturnix dactylisonans of 

 Temminck) is so well known as a game bird as to 

 require no description. It arrives at the Cape 

 towards the end of August, and may be found 

 abundantly in the Western province. Bags of from 

 twenty to thirty brace to one gun are not uncommon. 



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