Birds of the Buffalo Basin 45 



pieces of rags and the slough of a snake. A second time the owner 

 approached with the same wild shriek, but finally left me and 

 joined her mate in a tree. To my surprise the eggs, though some- 

 what soiled, were quite fresh. They measured 29.5-32 mm. x 21, 

 and were bright greenish blue, more or less thickly covered at the 

 larger end and much more sparingly elsewhere with dull ashy 

 spots. Both the extent of the spotting and the size of the spots 

 varied considerably. 



The kafir name of this species, " igiyogiyo," is an attempt to 

 render the call so continuously uttered in flight. 



Black-bellied Glossy Starling — Lamprocolius melanogaster 

 (Sw.) : This species appears in both of our early 

 lists, that of Rickard at East London and of 

 Trevelyan at Kingwilliamstown. In the winter months, 

 this species occurs nowadays in flocks of considerable 

 size in the neighbourhood of East London, and of late years has 

 been seen by Mr. John Wood in mid-summer also. On 27th Feb- 

 ruary, 1918, Mr. Wood and I came on a pair feeding in the top 

 of a tree at a densely overgrown portion of the Buffalo banks; 

 they kept uttering a very rough cry for some time before they de- 

 camped. Although the nest has not yet been obtained there can 

 be little doubt that the birds are now established as a nesting- 

 species at East London. In the upper portion of our area the 

 species is still rare, though a sf>ecimen obtained at Kei Road 

 by Miss E. Hudson in February, 1906, is in our local museum. 



Red-shouldered Glossy Starling — L. phoenicopterus (Sw.) : 

 This resident species generally occurs in small parties of from 

 six to ten individuals, that attract notice by the distinct swishing 

 of their v^gs in flight and by their dazzling metallic plumage. 

 These birds are specially common about the mimosa scrub and 

 along the borders of the forest, but they frequent mealie gardens 

 also and, with a great display of affected shyness, hang about 

 houses as well. They are omnivorous, hunting usually on the 

 ground for grasshoppers and other insects and often feeding close 

 to the feet of goats or horses; in the fruit season, however, they 

 indulge largely in wild berries, suck the nectar of the kafir- 

 hoom and visit the cabbage-tree, and, where they possibly can. 



