56 Mr. C. F. M. Swyunerton o7i the 



I have to add to my previous list of the food of this Bush- 

 Shrike snails (iu three cases), a Noctua, large ants, and, in 

 one, Physalis-\\ke seeds, but in nearly every one out of the 

 fourteen stomachs examined the piece de resistance had been 

 beetles. 



Thirteen of these birds, measured iu the flesh, averaged 

 8*38 inches and shewed a considerable variation, ranging 

 from 7*8 to 9*25. A nestling, nearly ready to fly, measured 

 only 4'8 inches. 



79. Laniarius QTjADRicoLOii. Four-colourcd Bush- 

 Shrike. 



Singuni : '' Ighiya-ngehlangu/^ 



Rh., P. I have noted this fine Bush-Shrike in the lower 

 portions of Chirinda, and frequently in Chipete and other 

 forest-patches of the high veld, as well as in the Inyamadzi 

 and Chikambogc valleys and at Maruma. In the lower 

 Jihu it is really plentiful, particularly in the denser bush, 

 though heard far more frequently than seen, and it is 

 common in the Madanda forests ; I have also heard it in 

 the low veld in two or three places between Muchukwana 

 and Chirouda, including the dense bush at Chironda itself. 

 I have twice watched one of these birds calling on a 

 horizontal branch a few feet from the ground. It kept 

 well down on its breast with feet wide apart moving sideways 

 occasionally along the branch, bobbing its head up and down 

 and frequently uttering its loud melodious call : " Pom ! 

 puwe, puwe ! " It is probably this dancing movement 

 which, with the bird^s boastful coloration and bold call, 

 has caused the natives to give it the name of " Ighiya- 

 ngehlangu,^^ the expression having reference to the custom 

 whereby at the great Avar-dances a warrior will rush out of 

 the ranks atid repeat his exploits, both by narrative and 

 action, before the Chief, his comrades meanwhile dancing 

 and beating time upon their shields [ihlangu). 



I found two nests with eggs in the Jihu in November. 

 These were placed, one within two feet of the ground on the 

 end of a bent-down branch of BrachylxRna, supported loosely 



