Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 281 



XXI. — Additional Notes on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 

 By Thomas Ayres. Communicated by John Henry 



GURNEY*. 



[In the volume of ' The Ibis^ for 1877, at p. 491, I con-ected 

 an accidental error in the enumeration of the species of birds 

 observed in Transvaal by Mr. Thomas Ayres. Since then I 

 have detected a slight additional error, one species having 

 been enumerated twice. This having been corrected, the 

 number hitherto observed by Mr. Ayres stands as 281 ; and 

 the additional species included in the following notes are 

 numbered consecutively from that figure. Those species 

 which are not numbered are such as have been previously 

 mentioned. — J. H. G.] 



Aquila rapax (Temm.) . Tawny Eagle. 



Male, shot 12th July. Total length 26 inches, bill 2\, tarsus 

 3|, wing 19^, tail 10^. Irides light tawny brown; bill 

 black, gradually changing to pale yellowish-ash towards the 

 base ; cere, gape, and feet light chrome-yellow, claws black. 

 Weight 5 lb. 



This bird was brought to me by one of the Potchefstroom 

 butchers; it frequented the slaughter-yard for some time, 

 feeding on the offal of the cattle and sheep ; its last meal 

 consisted of some dead putrid fowl it had picked up, and my 

 olfactories were sorely tried whilst skinning it. It is 

 evidently a very foul-feeding bird; a horrible stench per- 

 meated its whole body, besides the musky smell noticeable 

 also in the Vultures. This is the only specimen I have 

 fallen in with for a long time. 



[A typical specimen, assuming the adult dress on the head 

 and mantle, but otherwise in immature plumage. — J. H. G.] 



CiRCAETus PECTORALis, Smith. Black-brcastcd Harrier 

 Eagle. 



Female, shot 11th June, in full adult plumage. Irides 

 light yellow ; bill pale bluish horn-colour, darkest towards 

 the tip ; tarsi and feet dingy white. Weight 3^ lb. 

 * See Ibis, 1877, pp. 339-354. 



