156 Mr. J. H. Gurney on additional Species of Birds 



dislike to my proceedings by their chattering cries and uneasy 

 manner. On leaving the nest I repaired the hole as well as I 

 could, and left the little ones safe inside ; but passing the place 

 •in about a week, I again climbed the tree and found the nest 

 cold and deserted. 



MoTACiLLA CAPENSis (Linn.). Cape of Good Hope Wagtail. 



This is the most common of the Wagtails in Natal. It will 

 frequently for a length of time follow a horse or ox whilst grazing, 

 running actively along the ground and catching small insects 

 which are thus disturbed ; it also appears to find its food abun- 

 dant in cattle pens and in muddy streams. Its flight is dipping, 

 like that of the AVagtail in England. 



Platysteira pririt (Vieill.). Pririt Flycatcher. 



Male. Iris bright reddish yellow j bill black; tarsi and feet 

 black. 



These Flycatchers frequent the dense bush. Their flight is 

 weak. They are restless in their habits, constantly flitting and 

 hopping about in search of small slow-flying soft insects, which 

 they take on the wing. Their note is harsh and grating to the 

 ear: more than two are seldom seen together. They are found 

 here all the year round. 



DiCRURUS Musicus (Vieill.). Musical Drongo. 



I found a nest of these birds built on a horizontal bough of an 

 acacia overhanging a pool of water, and about twenty feet above it. 

 I sent a Caff're boy up the tree to saw the bough off". While he 

 was thus engaged, the old birds attacked him furiously, making 

 repeated swoops and feints at his head, and uttering at the same 

 time loud notes of anicer. 



•o^ 



EsTRELDA ASTRiLD (Liun.). Waxbill Finch. 



I found several nests of these birds last season, all built upon 

 the ground, generally in some convenient indentation sheltered 

 by a clump of grass. The little elongated entrance of the nest is 

 placed rather forwards, with the end of it touching the ground. 

 On the top of the nest there is a sort of chamber, in which, the 

 Caffres assure me, the male bird roosts at night during the in- 

 cubation of the female. 



