Mr. T. Ayres on the Ornithology of Transvaal. 287 



rufous, and with a slight rufous tinge on the centre of the 

 otherwise white throat ; these peculiarities are probably 

 the remains of immature plumage resembling the dress of 

 the adult female. A similar stage of plumage has been re- 

 corded by Mr. Sharpe in the young males of two allied 

 species, Platystira cyanea and Pachyproru senegalensis [vide 

 Ibis, 1873, pp. 158 & 164).— J. H. G.] 



Lanius collaris, Linn. Fiskal Shrike. 



Female, Potchefstroom, 26th April, 1884. Stomach con- 

 tained grasshoppers. 



This Shrike, and also Laniarius silens, is sparsely distri- 

 buted amongst the mimosa bushes growing on the ridges of 

 the Mooi river valley in the Potchefstroom district. 



Enneoctonus collurio (Linn.). European Red-backed 

 Shrike. 



Males, immature, Potchefstroom, 6th, 10th, and 16th 

 January, 1885. 



The Red-backed Shrike is found in the same localities as 

 the two species last mentioned, but is perhaps sometimes more 

 plentiful. 



[In all three of the specimens sent the assumption of the 

 adult dress has just commenced. — J. H. G.] 



Telephonus senegalus (Linn.) . Senegal Tchagra Shrike. 



These Shrikes are by no means uncommon on the river 

 Limpopo, and one or two may often be seen amongst a com- 

 pany of small birds which frequently collect together without 

 any apparent cause. [In previous volumes of ' The Ibis ' I 

 have erroneously applied the specific name erythropterus to 

 Natal and Transvaal examples of this species. — J. H. G.] 



Laniarius atrococcineds (Burch.). Crimson-breasted 

 Bush Shrike. 



These birds are tolerably common on the Upper Limpopo, 

 amongst the thorny and dense mimosas which bear the name 

 of cat-thorns, where it is not always an easy matter to follow 

 them or even to get a bird that has been shot. 



