Ornithology of the Matopo District. 19-'? 



Early one morning, hearing a great hubbub down at the 

 river, I was rewarded with the fine sight of a pair of INIartial 

 Eagles out hunting over the open country, much to the 

 consternation of these Storks, which all mounted up into the 

 air, gradually going higher and higher as they successfully 

 baffled the Eagles' swoops by sharp twists and turns and 

 other aerial evolutions. After the Eagles' departure all the 

 Storks in the neighbourhood — about 150 — congregated 

 together, moping, on an open piece of ground, evidently in 

 readiness for any possible resumption of hostilities by the 

 Eagles, whose peculiar ringing, screaming cries could be 

 plainly heard, even from the immense height to which they 

 had retreated. 



21. X Ciconia ciconia. White Stork. 

 Ciconia alba (Linn.) ; Scl. iv. p. 37. 



Sind. " lingabuzane " ; sometimes "lingabuzane mhlope." 

 A summer visitor, and perhaps even more numerous than 

 the last named. Although in 1912 some of these Storks 

 evidently migrated on the night of February 24, they are, 

 as a rule, later in their departure, and I have even noticed 

 them as late as the 24tli of May ! 



Further south, however, this Stork often remains through 

 the winter months (Journ. S. Afr. O. U. vol. viii. 1912, p. 80j. 

 Several birds which I shot, in the faint hope of obtaining a 

 ringed bird, were simply infested with ticks round the upper 

 neck and head, and it would seem that this Stork (as well as 

 many other birds) is a regular agent in the distribution of 

 these pests. I have more than once noticed flocks flying higher 

 and higher on the approach of heavy rain-storms, presumably 

 with the object of mounting up above them and keeping dry. 

 On the 1st of April I watched one of these birds evade a pair 

 of Wahlberg's Eagles again and again over the Dam, the 

 while keeping up a continuous clapping of its beak, which 

 seemed to intimidate the Eagles, 



22. Ciconia nigra. Black Stork. 



A solitary one occurred at the Dam ou September G, 

 1908. 



