56 Mr. W. Ayres on Birds collected iti the 



CiNNYRis TALATALA (Smith). Soutb - African White- 

 breasted Sun-bird. 



Malcj immature. 



I shot this specimen at Rovi-rand on 19th June^ 1885 ; it 

 was hopping about very quickly^ sipping honey from the 

 flowers of a creeper which grew in the thick underwood 

 along the banks of the spruit, and was quick and restless 

 in its movements ; on dissection it proved to be a male. I 

 found no other Sun-bird about this spot. 



[The present specimen has been kindly identified for me by 

 Captain Shelley as a young male of C. talatala. — J. H. G.] 



395. Anthodi^ta coLLARis (Yieill.). Natal Collared Sun- 

 bird. 



Female, Umzingeilla's, near Mashupan river (Transvaal), 

 1st July, 1885. 



I met with a few of these tiny Sun-birds in the dense bush 

 along the Mashupan, where they find flowering creepers to 

 their taste. 



Graucalus pectoralis, Jard. & Selby. Pectoral Cuckoo- 

 shrike. 



Female, Rovi-rand near Lehtaba river, 13th June^ 1885. 



Length 9| inches, wing 5|, tail 4f. Bill and legs black; 

 eyes dark brown, and very large for the size of the bird. 

 When I shot this specimen it was catching insects in the top 

 branches of a high mimosa tree ; from its flight I mistook 

 it for a Cuckoo, and only discovered my mistake when I 

 picked it up; its stomach contained green caterpillars and 

 the shell of a green locust. I unfortunately lost the label 

 on which I had noted the sex of this specimen, but believe it 

 to have been a female. 



Male, shot 20th June, 1885, at the same spot as the female. 

 I have not met with this species in Transvaal, neither do I 

 remember seeing it in Natal. 



[The two specimens sent appear to be correctly sexed. I 

 do not include them amongst the Transvaal species, as they 

 were killed in a locality beyond the Transvaal border. — 

 J. H. G.] 



