60 Mr. C. F. M. Swyiincrton on the 



83. Laniarius sulphureipectus. Orange-breasted Bush- 

 Shrike. 



Rh., P. Occasioually seen about Chipete or the lower 

 portion of Chirinda and a common bird on the Kurumadzi 

 Kiver, where I caught frequent glimpses of it in the jungle 

 and constantly heard its clear call " Pipitye, pipitye ! 

 Pipipitye^ Pipipitye ! " continuing sometimes long after 

 sunset. I once attempted to keep one of these birds in 

 captivity, but without success; its alarm-note was a harsh 

 cry like that of L. starki. I also secured a specimen in the 

 Zinyumbo Hills in November. 



A verj^ large mantis (entire), beetles, and larvse have been 

 amongst the stomach-contents ; one stout hairy moth- 

 caterpillar, swallowed entire (in a stomach which already 

 contained six others), measured no less than 2'4 inches in 

 length. Irides dark or purplish brown ; feet blue-grey, in 

 one case rather dark. Average measurement iu flesh of 

 four birds 7'35 inches; range 7'1 to 7"65. 



81. Laniarius stakki. Southern Grey-headed Bush- 

 Shrike. 



lib. This bird is a great eater of Neptunides polychrous, a 

 Cetoniid Avhicli is extremely destructive to our pineapples, 

 and nearly every stomach which I have examined has con- 

 tained its remains. 



Care is necessaiy in hamlliiig a captured bird, as they bite 

 fiercely, inflicting nasty cuts. One which 1 kept in captivity 

 for some time fed freely on locusts, grasshoppers, and larvae, 

 which it would take from my hand, through tlie bars, from 

 the first, and would utter, when alarmed by a dog or a cat, 

 a harsh cry (comparable to the squeaking of a cartwheel), 

 which may be rendered " Chichy-chichichy ! Chicliy- 

 chichichy-chichee ! " 



On the 12th November I was shown a nest of this bird 

 placed on the terminal twigs of a thin projecting branch of 

 a " Mushungunu ^' {Bridelia sp.), about 20 feet from the 

 ground, on a precipitous slope near the bottom of a wooded 

 kloof close to Chirinda. It was a broad flat structure about 



