the Birds of Zululand. 221 



While here we heard of the " rinderpest " which had 

 swept off 600,000 cattle in Bechuanaland^and was advancing 

 with rapid strides through Rhodesia and the Northern 

 Transvaal, To prevent it spreading, the strictest regulations 

 were made regarding the movementof oxen from one district 

 to another, and we were detained here longer than we wished ; 

 hut at last we got a Boer, who was on his way home, to take 

 us to the border of Zululand. We were now on the banks 

 of the Umkusana, a small stream which flows into the 

 Umkusi, and is sparsely wooded, with small thorns growing 

 on the hillsides in poor-looking soil. Hearing that the 

 Umkusi was better wooded and a good place for birds, we 

 took a two days^ journey across country to the Umkusi 

 " Poort/' which is the point where the river cuts its way 

 through the Lubombo mountains, the lofty bluffs and 

 kranzes of which were visible long before we reached it. 



Leaving the stony kopjes, we passed over extensive 

 mimosa-covered flats, where we sighted a jackal looking 

 uncommonly like a dog as it trotted away, and shot a huge 

 black imamba snake 10 feet long, the bite of which is almost 

 instant death. Hastening down the hill, we nearly stumbled 

 over another enormous snake that was lying across the path, 

 and which was probably its mate. We were glad enough to 

 come to the end of this tedious journey and rest alongside 

 the river, under the shadow of the great Echanene, a 

 lofty spur of the Lubombo. This was about the roughest 

 piece of walking we had yet accomplished. 



Bee-eaters [Merops bullockoides) appear sometimes to 

 assemble in large flocks, and we noticed as many as fifty 

 covering a few trees. Laniarius quadricohr was plentiful 

 in the thickets here. Its cry during the pairing-season 

 is very musical, and sounds exactly like " Bob, bob, bob 

 o'link," oft repeated. Here we first met the Zambesi Green 

 Shrike {Laniarius gularis), which hops about the thick scrub 

 and has a low chuckling note. A small Green Parrot with 

 yellow under wing-coverts is found here, as in most of the 

 thorn country north of the Umfolosi. 



Grey Plantain-eaters [Schizorhis concolor), in parties of 



