1921.] On Birds of Northern Rhodesia. 611 



XXXIV. — An account of the Birds met with during a two 

 months' shooting trip in Northern Rhodesia. By Colonel 

 Stephenson R. Clarke, (!.B., M.B.O.U. 



(Plate VII.) 



In the followino- pases I endeavour to cive a short and, I 

 fear, a superficial account of the birds observed while making 

 a two months'- shootinn- trip during August and September 

 1920^ in north-western Rhodesia. I had meant to have 

 collected birdskius more seriously, but I met with two un- 

 expected mischances ; in the first place, it was not found 

 possible to secure the services of a trained bird-skinner, and, 

 in addition, I injured my right arm the second day out from 

 Monzc, and was unable to use my shot-gun for a month 

 after. 



My son Edmund accompanied me, and we engaged as 

 guide and hunter Mr. F. Cooper, of Mazabuka. On our 

 way north my son and I broke our journey from Capetown, 

 in the Free State, to shoot specimens of the Black Wilde- 

 beeste and Blesbok ; during the few days spent there we 

 motored from Win burg to the Hoopstad district and hack 

 by a different road, something over 100 miles each way. 

 I felt a natural pleasure in renewing acquaintance with the 

 birds of the Free State veld after twenty years' absence ; 

 the small number of Raj)tores seen (even allowing for the 

 fact of it being the winter) seemed to show a great diminu- 

 tion in their numbers since then : Ivnniaicidusrupicoloides is 

 still abundant, but the onl}^ other members of the group seen 

 in these two long drives were two Secretary Birds and one 

 Black-shouldered Kite, nor did we see any of the Francolins, 

 I had certainly expected to see Francolinus gariepensis. On the 

 other hand, White-quilled KnoY\rdan(Otis afroides),Niimnqua 

 Sandgrouse [Pteroclurus namaqua), Two-banded Courser 

 [Rhinoptilus africatms), Burchell's Courser {^Cursorius rufus), 

 and thetls^lewitjes (^Stephanibi/oj coronata) were abundant, and 

 I also saw several Blue Knorhaan (Otis cwrulescens) in twos 

 and threes, and, unless I was mistakeuj many flocks of the 



