of the Lydenburg District. 193 



we see the Secretary-bird stalking about, until we arrive at 

 llliinoceros River. Here are to be found more Guinea-fowl 

 in the Mimosa thorn trees, the Hoopoe [Upupa minor), a few 

 Woodpeckers, many of the Puff-backed Shrikes, Martins, &c. 

 Hence we proceed to the Vaal river, where Ardea goliath is 

 to be met with ; and from this place to about ten miles north 

 of Potchefstroom you get a great variety of Egrets and Herons, 

 which birds are my especial favourites. Of this family I have 

 seen and shot in the above district Ardea egretta (one of the 

 most lovely, if not, indeed, the lovliest of all the Egrets of 

 South Africa), A. cinerea, A. atricoUis, A. purpurea, A. bu- 

 bulcus, A. garzetta, A. leucoptera, Ardetta minuta, Botaurus 

 stellaris, Nycticorax griseus, as well as Spoonbills, Storks, and 

 Pelicans ; so that it will be seen that the locality is a good one 

 for water-birds. At about thirty miles north of Potchef- 

 stroom the Mooi river takes its rise, followed, more or less, by 

 an open country ; and then we get what in the colony are 

 called Kops, or Rants, with quantities of sugar-bush, on 

 A^hich we found several kinds of Sun-birds. Our way then 

 lay to Pretoria, thence to Nazareth, and afterwards to Ly- 

 denburg, the country being similar all the way. Near the 

 latter place, however, we get a partially wooded and moun- 

 tainous country ; and as we draw nearer the chain of the Dra- 

 kenberg the scenery increases in wildness and grandeur; 

 here, in the deep kloofs, the loud note of Corythaix musophaga 

 was heard. At the base of these mountains, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Macamac gold fields, I found the country to 

 be very rich in birds, and many species hitherto supposed to 

 be peculiar to Natal occurred to us. Most of the rarer species, 

 including the new Bradypterus, were obtained in this district. 

 I must add that the neighbourhood of Rustenberg I have 

 since found to be a favourite resort for many of the migratory 

 European birds. 



I need hardly mention a fact that I fear Avill be only too 

 painfully apparent from a perusal of this paper — that I can 

 lay no claim to a scientific knowledge of ornithology ; the 

 few notes here put together have been written at the request 

 of Mr. Bowdler Sharpe, who has named my collection for 



