GAME-BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



Their habits are exactly the same as those of P. garnbensis, 

 a few of which may sometimes be found mingled in their 

 flocks. 



Their flight is powerful but not very fast, and their note, 

 which is usually uttered when they are on the wing, is a 

 curiously weak sort of whistle which sounds like " Cow- whit, 

 cow-whit," sometimes clear and sometimes rather harsh. 

 They have none of the trumpet-like, loud clanging notes of 

 our northern birds, but like them they can carry away an 

 immense amount of shot. 



When flighting out to their feeding-grounds. Spur-wing 

 nearly invariably reconnoitre the ground carefuUy, and on 

 alighting stand on the alert and look round in every direction. 

 When satisfied that no danger threatens, they post sentries 

 in the same way that wild-geese do at home, and then start 

 feeding. 



Young birds are not bad-eating, but the old birds are quite 

 impossible, as they seem to remain hard and tough until 

 they decompose. 



Eggs sent me from Vredefort Road, Orange River Colony, 

 were not to be distinguished from eggs of P. gamhensis. 

 These eggs were found in nests built of loose heaps of dry 

 grass among the big stones at the foot of the kopje. The 

 site was thickly studded with prickly-pear bushes, and was 

 not far from water. 



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