io6 A Breath from the Veldt 



will fly round and chase each other for hours at a time, uttering the while 

 their harsh notes. The chief enemy of these plover is the white-necked 

 crow, and his appearance as he comes flying past one of their resting-places 

 is always a signal for a combined attack on the part of the plovers, who 

 certainly spare him not. During the nesting season the crows destroy large 

 numbers of the eggs and young of the plover, who, being scattered in pairs 

 at wide intervals, are hardly able to keep the marauder off. So Mr. Crow 

 has pretty much his own way for these two months, and in return the plovers 

 make his life a burden to him for the other ten. The mode of attack may 

 be briefly described as follows. The whole party of plovers mount into the 

 air till they are well above the object of attack, and there hang hovering, 

 almost stationary, in the sky. Should the crow be flying along in their 

 direction, they place themselves so as to intercept his flight. Then first one 

 member drops like a hawk on his victim, striking the crow hard with his 

 blunt spur, and even at times making the feathers fly. His example is quickly 

 followed by another and another plover, so that no time is given the victim 

 to dodge and evade his pursuers. It is most amusing to watch the eflforts of 

 the crow to evade his tormentors ; but unless he is very cunning and keeps 

 outside the plovers' ground, he seldom escapes without some punishment. 

 Some of the queer attitudes of the birds when thus engaged will be seen in 

 my sketch. 



The day following I killed nine khoorhans, which I believe to be of a 

 new species. Whilst riding in front of the waggons, taking a parallel route 

 to the road, I came across two bustards, both of which I killed, and shortly 

 afterwards a party of five more, four of which I shot, the birds being extremely 

 tame. These birds seem so different from the white-quilled black khoorhan, 

 a very common species throughout South Africa, that I concluded at first 

 they must be the black-bellied khoorhan, a rare species said only to be found 

 on the high plateaux surrounding Salisbury in Mashonaland and the Mababe 

 flats to the north of lake Ngami in the Kalahari. But those I shot this 

 day and the following one in no way resembled that species. Except in 

 general appearance they are much more closely allied to the white -quilled 

 species. 



I killed twelve of these bustards, one being a female with a young one 

 just able to fly ; and both from the behaviour of the birds before I shot them 

 and after I had preserved specimens I became convinced that they belong 

 to a species not yet described. By a hard fate the whole collection of bustards 



