Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 225 



This very fine Cuckoo was tolerably plentiful during our 

 spring months (October and November) in 1882 all about 

 the wooded parts of the Magaliesbergen^ becoming scarcer as 

 the summer came on. It is shy and difficult to approach, 

 but its loud harsh cries often attract attention ; it is not 

 unfrequently mobbed by small birds. 



Centropus senegalensis (Linn.). Burchell's Spur-heel 

 Cuckoo. 



Male, Potchefstroom, June 1882. Iris blood-red ; bill 

 light ashy, but black on the ridge and at the tip ; tarsi and 

 feet bluish ashy. Stomach contained a mixed cargo of grass- 

 hoppers, large bugs (very strong-smelling), a large lizard's 

 tail, and a good sprinkling of era]) -shells. 



Female, Rustenburg, December 18, 1882. Iris red; tarsi 

 and feet ash-colour. 



This species appears to be gradually on the increase in the 

 Potehefstroom district ; as each successive summer comes 

 round, I hear more and more its monotonous and melancholy 

 note, not unfrequently even in the thick hedgerows of the 

 town itself ; but being exceedingly shy and retiring in its 

 habits, it is not often seen. In the wooded country of the 

 Rustenburg district it is far more common, especially along 

 the streams ; it builds a clumsy nest of coarse grass in the 

 low bush and lays white eggs. 



[As this is a very variable species, it may be worth while 

 to add a few particulars of the two specimens above referred 

 to ; the following are the principal measurements : — 



The plumage of the male agrees with the description given 

 in Sharpens Layard, p. 163, except that the under wing- 

 coverts are a rich rufous brown instead of being "pale buff /^ 

 the secondaries are also crossed by numerous bars of brownish 

 black, which may probably be the remains of immature 

 plumage. The female differs from the male in the absence of 



