Mr. Ayres gives the following soft parts:—ff Iris light hazel,
upper mandible dusky, under one yellowish; tarsi and feet dingy
vellowish-white.”
608. Ot is IiUDWigii, Riipp. Ludwig’s Bustard.
Eupodotis litdwigii, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 284.
This Bustard comes to us in its migrations, apparently from the
westward; at least most of them that we have seen have been
procured on the north-western side of Cape Town. In its habits it
resembles the preceding species. Its eggs, two in number, are
similar in size and appearance to those of 0. caffra, but are usually
of a lighter and greener ground.
Mr. H. Jackson says that it only lays one egg, but Mr. Atmore
writes :—“ All the nests (if a very shallow hollow in the ground can
be so called) that I have found have had two eggs, if they were
incubated. I have, of course, found them with but one, but then it
was not ‘ sotten on,’ as we say in Norfolk.”
Captain Trevelyan states that, like 0. caffra, the present species
come to the Frankfort Flats (about fifteen miles from Kingwilliams-
town) in July and remains till about November. Mr. Ayres writes
from the Transvaal: —“ I took the eggs of this Bustard from the top
of a low stony range of hillocks. I happened to be at a farmstead
about thirty miles from Potchefstroom, when a young Boer told me
he had found a Paauw’s nest; so I immediately started with him to
the spot, rather late in the afternoon; after a smart walk of about
five miles we came to the stony ridge, and there lay the two eggs,
quite warm, the old bird having evidently just left the nest and crept
away amongst the stones on our approach; they were laid on the
bare ground, without any appearance of a nest. We sat down to
rest for a quarter of an hour or so, when my Hottentot, whom I had
taken with me, suddenly, but in a whisper, said that he saw the bird,
and pointed to a spot within a few yards of us; but I could see
nothing, so I handed him my gun, and he immediately killed the
bird as she lay crouched amongst the stones within ten yards of us,
and would, no doubt, there have lain until we left the place.”
Majors Butler and Feilden and Captain Reid found this Bustard not
at all scarce on the undulating hills near Newcastle, where it breeds.
The crop of one shot by Feilden contained beetles and grasshoppers.
Adult {male).—General colour of back ochraceons, profusely
variegated with minute dark brown wavy lines; top of head black;
eyebrows and chin white; front of neck and chest white, tinged
more or less with slate colour; ruff at back and side of neck rufous,
under parts white; wings, when closed, appearing mottled black and
white; tail white, with four broad black bars; legs and bill yellow.
Length, 3' 6"; wing, 23"; tail, 13".
The female much resembles the male, except that she is smaller,
has only a corona of black round her head, and is altogether less
highly coloured.
Fig. Rupp. Mus. Senckenb., 1837, pi. 14.
609. O tis scolopacea, Temm. Pink-coloured Bastard.
Eupodotis scolopacea, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 284.
The Vaal Knorhaan is common on the Karroo, about Beaufort
West and Zoetendals Vley. I t is usually found in pairs, and prefers
running among the scanty herbage, and trusting to its dusky
plumage to effect its escape, to taking flight. If it fancies itself
unobserved it will suddenly squat, and, unless the spot is correctly
marked, so great is its similarity to the soil and stones among which
it is found, that it is next to impossible to detect it. I t is so well
aware of this, that it will remain immovable till the sportsman
walks direct towards it, on which it instantly takes flight; but if it
is approached in a series of concentric circles, it remains until the
sportsman is within a few paces.
It feeds on seeds, insects and small reptiles, constructs no nest,
but deposits its two eggs in a depression of the soil in the open
veldt. The eggs vary much in colour—some are olive, some light
brown, and others rich nankin. All are, however, more or less
spotted and blotched with brown and indistinct purple. Axis, 2" 8"’’;
diam., 1" 10"'.
General colour, cinereous, here and there passing into rufous,
minutely mottled with dark brown and black; quill feathers black,
with the inner webs more or less isabella-coloured; chin and top of
throat jet black, surrounded by a pale yellow edging; a black halfmoon
shaped mark at the back of the head, which is slightly crested.
The whole of the body plumage in the live bird is glossed with a
beautiful pink lustre, which fades after death; each plume, on
being withdrawn, shows a delicate ferruginous and very lax web