BIRDS OF THE BUFFALO BASIN. 79 



fur. The eggs were pale green, clouded all over with in- 

 distinct ashy markings, with a distinct zonal band o£ the 

 same at the larger end. 



Bush Blackcap — Lioptilus nigricapillus (Vieill.)- 

 Owing to the facilities for hiding in such a forest as that at 

 Pirie, this silent and unobtrusive species rarely comes under 

 notice. Yet it certainly nests in the forest, as a female with 

 all the marks of brooding about lier was brought by a boy 

 on 18th November, 1910. Another was met with by Mr. 

 John Boss on 23rd October, 1912. The species eluded my 

 gaze during my stay at Pirie, but has come under my notice 

 twice in Griqualand East. It hunts for its food in the thick 

 undergrow^th of the forest or of a fruit garden and pays 

 scarcely any attention to an observer. The stomach of the 

 female referred to was full of beetles. 



Cape Bobin Chat — Cossypha caffra {L.). The Cape 

 Bol)in Chat is associated in my mind with a peaceful scene 

 in the forest. I was hunting one A])ril afternoon along the 

 bed of a stream to find a stone suitable for a lintel, and I 

 rested for a while in my search in order to sec wdiat life was 

 about. The portion of the stream visible to me was a quiet 

 pool three yards in diameter sheltered by a stout tree-trunk 

 from the sun ; its upper edge was bordered by a rocky ledge 

 across the bed of the stream, above which the watercourse 

 was dry ; below the pool the watercourse for a few yards 

 during which it was visible before taking a turn among the 

 trees, was bare mud-covered rock. One of the fairy Pied 

 Dragonflies (Chlorolestes tessellata) of the forest settled 

 on an upright twag right opposite me and remained there as 

 a feast for my eyes. A silent swift movement of some object 

 passing beneath the prostrate trunk caught my eye, and the 

 next moment a Cape Bobin Chat perched on a slim branch 

 lying athwart the pool. In its behaviour it was not unlike 

 the northern robin. It kept its neck down, twisting it 

 cautiously to ascertain if all was safe, raising its tail some- 

 what slowly and jerking its wdngs spasmodically. It flitted 



