Mashonuland Birds. 2i7 



among tlie heavier timber which grows in the vicinity of the 

 larger rivers. At Gadzima, on the Umfuli, I found it fairly 

 common, and observed it again on the Hanyanij some 12 

 miles south of Salisbury ; it also occurs sparingly about 

 Mazoe. In some ways its habits are notably different from 

 those of its congeners. It is never found sitting on the 

 summits of trees at the outskirts of the bush, but only on the 

 lower branches further within ; it is comparatively tamer ; 

 and its courting gambols are also distinct, for it will fly with 

 a very rapid zigzag for some distance, and then suddenly 

 shoot straight up into the air for 15 or 20 feet with closed 

 wings, curving gently over and down again head foremost, 

 screaming all the while. C. spatulutus is quite as quarrel- 

 some as C. caudatus, and even more noisy; I can only 

 compare its cries to the yelping of a litter of puppies. 

 Stomachs contained grasshoppers, with beetles and large fly- 

 maggots, evidently taken from carrion. 



114. CoRACiAs oLiVACEicEPS. (Olivc-headed Roller.) 

 This clumsy and comparatively dull-coloured bird is 



generally distributed, but never plentiful, being even more 

 solitary in its habits than the other species. Like the first 

 two, it is fond of sitting on elevated situations and pouncing 

 thence on its prey in a Shrike-like manner. It is rather 

 more lethargic than the others, but its courting flight is 

 practically the same as that of C. caudatus. The stomachs 

 contained beetles, scorpions, and several kinds of locusts, 

 including a gaudily-coloured species which emits a very 

 strong and unpleasant odour. 



115. EuRYSTOMUs AFER. (Yello\v-])illed Roller.) 



Much the scarcest of our Rollers, and I have only seen 

 a few specimens along the Umfuli, where I observed a pair 

 breeding in a hole in a tree close to my camp. It is wilder 

 even than Coracias caudatus, which it much resembles in its 

 general habits. 



116. DicRocERCUs HiRUNDiXACEUs. (Swallow-tailcd BcB- 

 cater.) 



Not verv common, and, unlike the other Bee-eaters, it does 



