246 
BIRD-LIFE. 
wholesale raid made on the locust swarm by birds. No 
sooner have these insects established themselves in a 
forest, and commenced their depredations, than their 
feathered pursuers immediately arrive from all sides, 
and the chase commences. Those Storks ( Ciconia) 
and Ibises (Tantalus falcinellus), which are breeding 
during the locust season, arrive in countless numbers, 
often indeed from great distances, and support them¬ 
selves and their young exclusively on these insects. 
Such birds as Kestrels, Lesser Kestrels, Buzzards, 
Harriers (0. pallidus ), Crows, Boilers, Lamprotornis, 
Guinea-fowls, and Francolins, now in winter-quarters, 
approach the swarm and commence the work of 
destruction; Herons, even, if there happens to be 
water in the forest, as also Terns (Sterna anglica) 
take part in the raid. Hovering over the tops of 
the trees one sees hundreds of busy little Falcons, 
which seem to swoop down almost every second, and, 
actively seizing a flying locust, rise and devour it on the 
wing. The twigs and branches, weighed down with the 
insect-plague, are sought by other birds. The Crows, 
stalking and hopping hither and thither, assiduously 
gleaning some, and shaking still more to the ground, are 
ably assisted by the Lamprotornis, Cuckoos, and Horn- 
bills (. Buceros ); while the remaining members of the 
feathered crowd assiduously turn their attention to those 
locusts which have fallen to the ground. If the forests 
stand in inundated districts, localities generally attacked 
by the locust on account of the foliage being fresher and 
greener than elsewhere, their arrival in such places is 
the signal for the approach of a whole tribe of Ducks, 
Gulls, and other aquatic birds, who aid in their 
destruction by feeding on those which fall in the water. 
