294 OTID.E OTIS 



White-quilled Knorhaan. To the east it does not extend further 

 than the Albany division. 



The following are localities : Cape Colony Berg River (Layard), 

 Malmesbury and Stellenbosch (S. A. Mus.), Ceres (Shelley), Sunday 

 River in Uitenhage (Berlin Mus.), Fish River Bush in Albany 

 (Trevelyan). 



Habits. This is certainly the most abundant of all the game 

 birds throughout Cape Colony. It is usually found in pairs in the 

 open country, and is one of the noisiest of birds. When approached 

 the cock rises with a fluster and gives vent to its peculiar harsh cry, 

 sounding like " go back go back" or "crack crack." Although 

 the wing movement is quick the flight is by no means rapid or pro- 

 longed, and after being flushed the bird soon alights again not very 

 far off, and watches for the fresh approach of danger. The hen 

 bird, of a more retiring and silent disposition, is very difficult to 

 flush, and usually takes refuge in an Antbear's or Meerkat's hole. 

 Dr. Stark found these birds very common in the undulating scrub- 

 overgrown hillsides near Malmesbury. During the month of August, 

 when he was there, the males were very noisy, calling against one 

 another continually. He further states, "they rise when one is 

 seventy or eighty yards off and fly round in large circles, not going 

 straight away ; as they rise they utter their loud scolding cry and 

 continue calling during their flight. Each male seems to occupy 

 some slight rise on the hillside within calling" distance of the next 

 one." 



Layard found nests near the Berg River. They were merely 

 depressions in the soil, sometimes lined by a few bents of grass. 

 The eggs, two in number, are rounded ovals of a pale shade of 

 greeny-brown, blotched with varying amounts of darker brown. 

 They measure about 2-23 x 1-78. 



The flesh of the Knorhaan is tough and inferior. It tastes better 

 if the bird is skinned before cooking. 



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692. Otis afroides. White-quilled Knorhaan. 



A- 



Otis afraides, Smith, P. Z. S. 1830, p. 11. 



Otis afroides, Smith, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. i, no. 5, p. 14 (1831) ; id. III. 



Zool. S. Afr. Aves, pi. 19 (1839); Holub & Pelz., Om. Siid-Afr. 



p. 229 (1882) ; Sliarpe, ed. Layard' 's B. S. Afr. pp. 642, 855 (1884) ; 



Nicolls andEglington, Sportsm. S. Afr. p. 117, fig. 38 (1892) ; Bryden, 



Gun and Camera, pp. 100, 481 (1893) Fleck, Journ. Ornith. 1894, 



Oi - 



