THE BIRDS OF THE BUFFALO BASIN. 73 



into wliich the brown £eatb(n's of the crown projocted in a 

 point exactly between the false eyes, produced the effect I 

 have described. So oood was the rouoh resemblance that when 

 T first saw it, the light being somewhat dim, I commenced to 

 offer the bird a piece of moat with my forceps. Then I saw 

 there was something unnsnal and looked closer. The unusual 

 thing had been that the '^face^' resembled that of such an 

 owl as Syrnium woodfordi, with dark eyes and dark 

 feathers immediately round them, rather tlian the pale eyes 

 and face of Glaucidium itself. The fact tliat the feathers 

 were puffed out in sleep, and so increased the apparent size 

 of the head, added to this resemblance. 



1 found the resemblance, as seen in the living bird, too 

 good to be able readily to regard it as a mere coincidence. 

 If it should, actually, be as striking in birds of this species 

 generally, I should be inclined to attribute a definite function 

 to the markings. They w^ould enable an enemy of small 

 birds meeting with this diminutive owl when asleep, to 

 recognise it readily as an owl. That this recognition might 

 on occasions be useful to the owl can hardly be doubted. 

 Apart from an owl's ability to " put up a fight," the one or 

 two bird-eating animals to which I have offered the flesh of 

 owls have shown a strong dislike for it, and it is possible that 

 their view of it may be that of bird-enemies generally. In 

 other words, the face on the nape is possibly mimicry — of 

 self I On this view, however, any extra liability to mobbing 

 would seem to be a minor consideration. Alleged to have 

 the flight of a thrush and the note of a Golden Cuckoo, it is 

 altogether a bird of queer resemblances. It measured 7*7 

 inches in the flesh, and the irides were gamboge. 



The Birds of the Bujfalo Basin., Cape Province. 



1. Thrushes. 



By Robert Godfrey. 



The Buffalo Basin in Eastern Cape Colony is much smaller 

 than either of the river basins — the Keiskama and the Great 



