122 BIRDS OF DAMARA LAND. 



it flies slowly from tree to tree, its flight being feeble. 

 It climbs excellently, and also seems equally at home 

 upon the ground. 



I was fortunate enough to fall in with a nest of this 

 species on the 15th of October, 1866 ; and, considering 

 how common the bird is, I wonder that I have not met 

 with more nests ; this one contained three eggs, in every 

 way very similar to those of Crateropus melano])s. The 

 nest was situated in a fork on the very top of a small 

 anna tree, some ten or twelve feet from the ground ; it 

 was composed externally of fine twigs and coarse grasses, 

 and was lined with somewhat finer grass ; it was circular, 

 deep, and very compact. I could both see and hear the 

 parent bird whilst we were robbing the nest ; but it did 

 not come near or appear very solicitous. 



On the 11th of December, 1866, I observed a family 

 of these birds, consisting of an old pair and their young, 

 hopping about in an anna wood almost as carelessly and 

 fearlessly as Robins. One of them, evidently the female, 

 led the way, followed by the young, which uttered a 

 querulous, subdued note. In the young birds the tail 

 and wings are of somewhat the same colouring as those 

 of their parents; but the body diff'ers much from the 

 colour of the adult bird, being grey or brownish grey, 

 instead of white. 



The iridcs in this species arc light reddish brown, the 

 bill dark horn-colour, the legs brownish black. 



