Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 293 



to it by Mr. Ayres : — " Shot April 4th, on the rocky ranges 

 near Potchefstroom ; sex by dissection uncertain ; contents 

 of stomach, insects and seeds of wild fruits ; iris dusky -, bill, 

 tarsi, and feet black." This bird measured, in the flesli, 

 according to Mr. Ayres's note, as follows : — " Total length 

 8 inches, bill (from gape) \-^, tarsus ly^^, wing 4|, tail 

 (barely) 3;^." In coloration this specimen resembles the 

 female previously described ; but the black portions of the 

 plumage are not so dark and much less lustrous, especially 

 the crown of the head and tlie nape of the neck, and also the 

 primaries and secondaries, all of which are dark brown rather 

 than black ; the black centres of the white wing-coverts, and 

 also the white spot near the origin of the bastard wing, arc 

 more conspicuous than in the last-named specimen, from 

 which the present one likewise differs in the presence of a 

 brownish- white mark extending from the base of the culmen 

 to the eye and of a few very minute white specks just below 

 the eye, also in some of the feathers of the back exhibiting 

 very minute white tips and in the upper tail-coverts being 

 wholly white ; there is also in this specimen a considerably 

 less proportion of white on the abdomen above the tibiae, the 

 feathers on that part being black faintly tipped with white. 



A fourth example, shot on the same day and in the same 

 locality as the preceding one, has the following memorandum 

 attached to it by Mr. Ayres : — 



"Female. Total length 7|, bill (from gape) 1^^, tarsus If, 

 wing 4f , tail 3g^. Iris dusky ; bill, tarsi, and feet black." 



This specimen is even more brown and less black than the 

 preceding one, especially on the under surface ; but on the 

 abdomen and tibiae the feathers have blackish centres, con- 

 cealed by brown or whity-brown margins ; the chin is sprin- 

 kled with small spots of a similar whity-brown tint; but 

 there is no whitish line between the bill and the eye, and no 

 white on the wing, the feathers of the lesser coverts being 

 blackish brown with brownish-grey edgings ; the upper tail- 

 coverts and tail resemble those of the preceding specimen, 

 except that all the rectrices, other than the two central pairs, 

 are more uniformly and decidedly tipped with brown than is 

 the case in the bird last described. 



