A Breath from the Veldt 49 



presently to meet with. The bustard family — the finest game birds in the 

 world — is better represented here than in any other quarter of the globe. The 

 climate suits them to perfection, and the vast plains of sandy soil covered with 

 bush and grass that stretch away from the Zambesi to Cape Town furnish all 

 that is needed for the preservation and increase of the species. Wherever there 

 is bush, there the Bush khoorhan {Otis rujicristd) is found, and nearly everywhere 

 in the open grass countries the Vaal khoorhan {Otis scolopaced) and the white- 

 quilled black khoorhan {Otis Afroides), may be met with, the latter frequenting 

 also the open bush lands, and sometimes even dense bush ; but his is a thirsty 

 soul, that must needs find water close at hand. It is really the same bird, with 

 slight variations, due no doubt to food and climate, as the Black khoorhan 

 [Otis Afro), the commonest bustard south of Orange River, whose habitat may 

 be roughly described as extending from the river to the centre of the 

 Transvaal, and westward to Bechuanaland. The males of both these khoorhans 

 are far more numerous than the females. One may see fifteen or twenty cocks 

 to one hen, but this of course is no criterion of their relative numbers ; for 

 while the cock bird habitually betrays his presence on the approach of man, the 

 shy and retiring disposition of the hen leads her to keep herself as much out of 

 sight as possible, and consequently she is seldom shot. But these and other 

 khoorhans I shall describe more particularly as I obtain them. 



And first the Blue khoorhan {Otis coerulescens), a most lovely species 

 frequenting the open high veldt of the Lower Transvaal and the Free State, 

 and sparsely scattered in Cape Colony and Natal. Happy is he who has shot 

 this bird and now holds it in his hand. He cannot fail to be struck with the 

 exquisite beauty of its plumage, a harmony of red and brown above, in fine 

 contrast with the rich slaty-blue below, the legs a fine chrome-yellow, and the 

 head remarkable (in life) for the delicate intermingling of blue, black, and 

 white. It is commonly met with in larger troops than any other species, and 

 is more tame and unsuspicious. Very amusing is it to watch their proceedings 

 when suddenly alarmed. Lowering their heads in the peculiar way I have 

 endeavoured to illustrate, they scurry along the ground nearly as fast as a man 

 can run, and only when they find it impossible to escape by this means do they 

 rise into the air, shrieking out in chorus against the cruelty of their oppressors. 



Very differently does the Vaal khoorhan behave under similar circumstances. 

 A squatted covey, taken by surprise, will often rise singly or in pairs, like a 

 "broken" covey of partridges. Their flight, too, is so different from that of the 

 Blue khoorhans that the sportsman soon learns to distinguish them at a distance 



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