62 Mr. C. F. M. Swyimerton on the 



the denser patches of bush on the Kurumadzi and elsewhere 

 in the lower Jihu, judging by the frequency with which one 

 heard its call. I succeeded three times in stalking and 

 watching a bird as it sang ; but this was by no means easy, 

 for not only was it exceedingly shy, but it invariably haunted 

 the higher foliage, where its protective coloration rendered 

 it very difficult to detect even when singing. One of the 

 higher branches or twigs of some large tree, standing in the 

 midst of smaller dense bush, seemed to be their favourite 

 perch, and from here they would pour out their song 

 continuously for many minutes on end, a loud musical 

 " Chilvuwu, chikwu, chi ! " which sometimes ends with a 

 Nightingale-like " tyo-tyo-tyo " ; this is alternated with a 

 harsher "Tyiurrr ! " and the intervals between are commonly 

 filled with the repetition, one by one, of all kinds of short 

 low whistling notes. The head is ci'aned forward and the 

 throat swells, but there is no other movement, the bird 

 remaining motionless on its perch while the song lasts. 

 One which I watched was being answered at intervals by 

 the " tyurrr '^ note from lower down, probably by the 

 sitting hen, but I was unable to locate the nest, the thicket 

 being thorny and impenetrable save by axe. I have never 

 heard this Shrike while in the Jihu in August; possibly, 

 though so noisy in the breeding-season, it may become 

 silent in the winter. I came across it constantly during ray 

 December to January trip across the low veld, noting it 

 particularly in the neighbourhood of Chibabava and thence 

 to Chironda and on to Urahlonhlo, and south to Arucate. 

 It seemed to be commonest in the patches of forest and 

 wooded dongas in the neighbourhood of the Idunda River 

 and in the rubber-forests of tlie Madanda, where I again 

 succeeded in watching one as it sang. A male which I 

 shot in the Jihu measured 9" 7 inches in the flesh. Its bill 

 was dark grey, its irides medium grey-brown, its feet light 

 grev, and its eyelids yellow and somewhat thickened. 

 The stomach contained the remains of grassho])pcrs and 

 beetles. 



