Mr. T. Ayrcs on the Ornithologij of Transvaal 299 



No. 3, ? , Rusteuburg-^ July 19. Irides lake -red; bill dark 

 dusky ash-colour; tarsi and feet olive-green. 



No. 4, ? , Rustenburg, July 26th. Irides lake-red ; bill 

 dusky towards the tip ; tarsi and feet ashy olive. 



This is the commonest of the Woodpeckers about llus- 

 tenburg. 



[In Sharpens edition of Layard^s ' Birds of South Africa/ 

 p. 190^ this species is given under Gmelin's specific name of 

 cardinalis. This title was founded on Sonnerat''s description 

 of a Woodpecker, of which that traveller remarks, ^'Je 

 decrirai trois Pics que j^ai observes a Fisle de Luyon ; le pre- 

 mier est de la taille du Pic vert .... On pourroit nommer 

 cette premiere espece le Pic Cardinal de I'isle de Lu9on^''*. 

 I think, although the description given by Sonnerat suits the 

 present species as regards colouring, the difference of size 

 and of locality makes its title to be the bird described by Son- 

 nerat too doubtful to be admitted ; and I have therefore used 

 for it the specific name of " fulviscapus," which I consider to 

 be the oldest synonym undoubtedly referable to this species. 



On reexamining a Woodpecker previously sent by Mr. 

 Ayres, and recorded by me in ' The Ibis ' for 1877, p. 342, 

 under the name of Dendropicus hartlaubi, I am now of opinion 

 that I ought to have referred it to this species, from which, 

 I confess, I feel very doubtful whether D. hartlaubi is in 

 reality specifically distinct. I observe that the late Pro- 

 fessor Sundevall inclined to the same opinion, as, after re- 

 counting the slight difterences which, in his opinion, distin- 

 guished D. hartlaubi from D. fulviscapus, he adds, ^'raagni- 

 tudine omnibusque reliquis exacte cum prsecedente convenit, 

 nee aliter nisi varietas ejus localis haberi potest. ^^ — J. H. G.] 



Campethera bennetti (Smith). Bennett^s Woodpecker. 



Not a common Woodpecker amongst the Magaliesbergen 

 mountains, but somewhat more plentiful than the succeeding 

 species. 



[The specimen sent is in female plumage, though marked 

 by Mr. Ayres as a male ; perhaps it may be an immature 



* 'Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinee,' par M. Sonnerat, p. 72. 



z2 



