Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 283 



ceding specimeu ; the pale transverse bars on the middle 

 rectrices are five in number. — J. H. G.] 



Female, shot on the 30th of July, in mimosa bush in the 

 Rustenberg district, by my friend Mr. William Lucas, who 

 gave it to me. Total length 13^ inches, wing 8^. Irides 

 dark red; cere orange-red; tip of bill dark horn-colour; 

 tarsi and feet red, claws black. The throat contained the 

 bones and flesh of a small bird. 



[This is apparently a very fully adult bird, the black colour 

 of the plumage being deeper and richer than in the two pre- 

 ceding specimens, and the light transverse bands on the 

 middle rectrices being but three in number and only the 

 central one reaching across the feather ; they are also tinged 

 with dark grey, instead of with brown as in the other two 

 examples. — J. H. G.] 



Circus macrurus (Gmel.). Swainson^s Harrier. 

 Male. Irides pale yellow. 

 Female. Irides dusky hazel. 



[The above-named female appears to me to be adult ; the 

 male is decidedly so. — J. H. G.] 



Circus cineraceus (Mont.). Montagues Harrier. 



Male adult, shot 14th March. Irides bright gamboge- 

 yellow. 



This individual was exceedingly fat ; and its stomach was 

 crammed with grasshoppers. 



Circus ranivorus (Daud.). South-African Marsh- 

 Harrier. 



Male, adult. Total length 18| inches, bill If, tarsus 3^, 

 wing 14^, tail 8|. Irides pale gamboge ; bill black, bluish 

 at the base ; cere greenish yellow ; tarsi and feet light 

 orange-yellow. 



Female, adult, shot on the 25th of October from her nest, 

 containing three chalky-white eggs very faintly tinged with 

 grey. The nest was placed on a mass of thick sedges bent 

 over the swamp, and about three feet above the water ; it 

 was composed partly of the sedge and partly of small 

 sticks. 



