i86 
TRAVELS IN 
side from the shoulder to the flank ; the body a dark chesiiut 
color, about eight inches in length ; tail ten inches, grizzled, 
black, brown, and white. 
That elegant bird, the Balearic crane, grus pavonina, was- 
first met with near the Melk river; and Guinea fowls were 
very abundant near every streamlet. Bee-eaters, merops, 
apiaster, with their beautiful plumage, and cerihias, or 
creepers, with colors still more brilliant, were fluttering about 
in vast numbers among the mimosas of the Sunday river, 
■where are also man}^ beautiful species both of kingfishers and 
woodpeckers. The modest garb of the cold, of which I met 
with three species, formed a striking contrast with the gaudy 
plumage of the others. There are several species of swallows 
in tli,e Cape, all migratory. One in particular, with a red- 
spotted breast, frequents the habitations of man, where it 
builds its nest. In many of the farm-houses are small shelves 
nailed against the beams, expressly for the swallows ; and I 
have heard it asserted very commonly, that the same birds 
return to their places for many years, and generally on the 
very same day ; which, if true, is a striking instance to prove 
that Nature is not more constant in the organization of the 
machine than in the effects that are intended to result 
from it. 
The Sunday river was nearly dry, which gave our people 
an opportunity of taking plenty of turtle with great ease.. 
These, when full grown, are in size generally about a foot ia 
diameter : the females are exceedingly prolific in eggs, and 
