My Birds. 53 



\\as like a Blackbird's; only one es:"g was laid when the cock 

 was killed by a weasel ; otherwise I think I should have bred 

 them. Anderson says : — 



" This thrush is pretty abundant in Damara and Great Namaqualand, 

 " especially the former; it also occurs in the Lake-regions. It is partially 

 ■' migratory, only a few remaining in Damaraland throughout the year. 

 " It lives chiefly on insects, for which it searches at the roots of trees 

 " amongst low bushes, old leaves and decayed wood. It scratches 



' somewhat after the manner of a Fowl, and is thence called by the 

 L'tchuanas the ' Ground Scraper;' it also runs with great celerity. It 

 ■' lives singly or in pairs, and occasionally perches on the topmost branch 

 " of some lofty tree. It utters a plaintive half-song, half-call, just as if 

 " it were troubled with a bad cold. This species bieeds about Objimbinque, 

 " and I took a nest containing three young on the 29th October. It was 

 ■' built on a branch about loft. from the ground, and was composed entirely 



' of grass, the interior being lined with down and feathers." 



Description. — Forehead and crown ash-brown, fading 

 into a lighter brown on the nape and mantle, still lighter on the 

 lower back and upper tail coverts ; tail-feathers brown, the tips 

 paler. Lores and cheeks white, behind the eye a yellowish 

 white spot, surrounded by black, a malar stripe formed by a row 

 ot blackspots; chin, throat, abdomen, and under tail-coverts 

 white, thickly spotted with dark brown or black tear-shaped 

 spots. Upper mandible brown, lower yellow. Feet and legs 

 yellowish. Size 8.25ins. 



■^ 



My Birds 



By Captain H. S. Stokes, F.Z.S. 



The keeping of foreign birds was started here just a year 

 ago, with a modest total of three pairs of Budgerigars; but the 

 hobby has proved such an interesting and absorbing one that 

 tlie birds now number well over a hundred. And, although 

 from our little experience there is no reason to burst into print 

 :n the subject, yet our excuse must be the Editor's constant 

 t- 'amour for copy, and the hope of spurring to greater enthusi- 

 asm other aviculturist members junior even to ourselves. 



In the first place it must be confessed that the primary 

 object is not breeding, but the keeping of a collection for their 



