Mr. T. Ay res on Trans- Vaal Ornithology. 157 



Mariqua; they appeared to have much the habits of the common 

 EngHsh Flycatcher. 



103. (L. 312.) NiLAUS BRTJBRU (Lath.). Brubru Shrike. 

 This species is tolerably common on the Limpopo. 



104. (L. 252.) Crateropus bicolor, Jardine. Southern 

 Black and White Babbler. 



I obtained this species near the river Limpopo, 



105. (L. 347.) BuPHAGA africana, Linn. Greater Ox- 

 pecker. 



Is not this bird rightly named Buphaga ? During our stay 

 in the bush Ox-peckers appeared in numbers about our oxen, 

 and actually ate large holes in the fleshy part of their backs, often 

 one or two inches deep, and two or three inches in diameter, 

 thus creating bad sores. They do this little by little, and day 

 by day ; and though it is annoying to the ox, I cannot say that 

 it seems to feel it much. The birds attack just that part of 

 the back where the ox cannot swish them ofi" with its tail or 

 dislodge them with its horns. They especially infest those oxen 

 which have lost their tails by inoculation for the lung-disease. 

 I had previously thought that these birds only ate the parasitical 

 insects common to cattle and game. 



This species is not found about Potchefstroom, but is exceed- 

 ingly common from the Mariqua all along the Limpopo ; it is a 

 pest to the hunter, of whose approach it warns the Buffalo and 

 Rhinoceros by its loud harsh note, which is perfectly understood 

 by its huge friends. 



I have not seen any holes picked by these birds in the Buffalo 

 or other game, but only in cattle. 



106. (L. 331.) CoRvus scapulatus, Daud. Scapulary 

 Crow. 



This is a scarce bird here. Its eggs are pale green with 

 small dusky spots ; those sent were taken from a nest placed in 

 a thorn-tree in a range of hills about twenty miles from Potchef- 

 stroom. 



[To be continued.] 



