106 Letters, Announcements, S^c. 



new to ray catalogue, also specimens of Laniarim quadricolor 

 and Buphaga erythrorhyncha. 



N. verreauxi they describe as found only in two small patches 

 of country — one the Umgovvie Forest, near the Umlalaas River, 

 in Zululand (lat. 20°), the other on a small promontory running 

 into St. Lucia Bay. On this bay also was procured A. rufiventris, 

 about which I have no further information. 



H. crassirostris was obtained in the mouth of Ihluhlui Bay, 

 a small indent in St. Lucia Bay, and seems to have been 

 not uncommon, annoying the hunters by its pertinacious 

 attentions and loud cries, alarming all the large game in 

 the vicinity. Mr. Fellowes's specimen fell a victim to his 

 importunity. 



Buphaga erythrorhyncha seems the only Ox-pecker of that 

 region, to the exclusion of B. africana (which 1 have received 

 from further to the northward, collected by Dr. Exton) ; it 

 seems common enough, and my friends were amused at my 

 delight at the sight of this (to me unknown) species, which I 

 had seriously begun to think must be only a phase of plumage 

 of the other bird. It closely resembles it, and, but for the ab- 

 sence of the striking yellow base of the lower mandible and the 

 presence of the yellow eyelids, might be mistaken for it. It 

 also wants the light rump of B. africana. 



L. quadricolor is found in the forests of the Umgene in 

 Natal, and is not scarce ; it is very rare to the westward (Cape 

 Colony), but one specimen having fallen under my notice; that 

 is in the Graham's Town Museum, and was shot in Olifant's 

 Hoek, between Port Elizabeth and the Kowie. 



St. Lucia Bay is described as the very paradise of feathered 

 fowl, and must be a grand place for a collector. The healthy 

 months are June, July, August, and the first half of September, 

 after which fever reigns supreme. To the sportsman it is about the 

 most inviting field open in South Africa ; and my friends reaped 

 a rich harvest as a reward for their undertaking. They propose 

 to return there at some future time; and I hope they will take with 

 them a well-qualified taxidermist, to preserve the treasures which 

 seem profusely scattered before them. Sportsmen with ample 

 means at their disposal little know the inestimable services they 



