Birds of G a -aland. 57 



by trailing stems of Smilax Kraussiana ; and the other, not 

 much higher, in the centre of a dense bush of Rhoic'issus 

 zanzibarensis. The latter nest, which I have kept, is 

 6 inches in diameter by 1"5 deep; the cup, as always, being 

 very shallow, with a depth of only 0"75. Externally it is 

 composed almost entirely ot" dry grass, weed-stems, and one 

 or two twigs, and is lined moderately densely with the fine 

 reddish-brown midribs of some pinnate leaf, already noted 

 in the case of D. guttatus. Two apparently is the full clutch. 

 The eggs in each case greatly resembled those which I de- 

 scribed in a former number of 'The Ibis^ (1907, p. 48), the 

 ground-colour being a very pretty pale Hedge-Sparrow blue. 

 They measure from 23 to 24 mm. in length by from 16 to 

 16'5 in breadth. In connection with the first of these nests, 

 I have the following entry in my diary : — "As I heard the bird 

 close at hand, I immediately sat down where I was, within 

 two yards of the nest and in full view (for those who had 

 eyes to see), and remained perfectly motionless. After 

 moving about in the surrounding thickets of burnt scrub, 

 uttering constantly a low grunting note, the male finally 

 came into view, and moving closer and closer, always 

 grunting, perched finally on the long horizontal branch 

 supporting the nest, and, sidling down towards it, burst 

 into song " (exactly repeating- the performance which I have 

 described above), "though eyeing nie suspiciously all the 

 time." The Woodwards' rendering of the note, " Kong- 

 kong-koit ! " does not quite represent it as it is uttered by 

 our local birds. Length in flesh (of two males) 7'7 inches. 

 Irides brown-madder. 



80. Laniarius berthandi. Bertram^s Bush-Shrike. 



Laniarius bertrandi Shelley, Ibis, 1894, p. 15, pi. ii. fig. 2. 



Rh., P. This really delightful songster is quite common 

 in Chipete and the other smaller forest-patches of the 

 district, such as Maruma and those of the Chikamboge 

 Valley. It is really plentiful on the Kurumadzi and in 

 other portions of the lower Jihu, while in portions of 

 Northern Melsetter it appears to be commoner almost than 



