Birds of Gazaland. 69 



experiment. An egg of tins species which I found this year 

 completely lacked the darker markings, the lighter olive- 

 brown of the zone heing carried down to a large extent over 

 the rest of the egg in broad long blotches. I watched this 

 nest for about an hour, during which time the cock-bird kept 

 up a ceaseless scratching amongst the dead leaves on the 

 ground round the nest, always keeping in touch with his 

 mate (within five yards or so) ; the hen only once left the 

 nest and joined him for a few minutes. They were unusually 

 silent, a low croak from the male at intervals being all they 

 attempted in the way of music while near the nest, though 

 I could hear loud and continuous croaking from a party at a 

 little distance away. The following day I found some 

 feathers and a broken egg in the nest, the sitting bird having 

 probably been taken by an Astur tachiro, the only Hawk 

 that I have yet found within the forest. This nest possessed 

 nothing worthy of the name of a cup, being nearly flat, 

 but below were massed, probably with a viciv to disguise, a 

 quantity of leaves, dry and half-skeletonized, and the nest 

 in general was a far more sul)stantial structure than either 

 of those belonging to this species which I had previously 

 examined. One was as high as eight feet from the ground. 

 Spiders, moths, grasshoppers, larvae, a large bug, a fly, and 

 a termite were amongst the contents of the nineteen stomachs 

 examined, though beetles and the berries of the Celtis formed 

 the bulk of the food consumed. Fifteen ot my specimens 

 averaged 7*8 inches in the flesh, the range of variation being 

 from 7*4 to 9 inches. No. 1.265, a female shot in Chipete 

 on April 4th, 1907, has a peculiarly dark chest, the Avliite of 

 the throat being very distinctly shut of£ as a separate patch, 

 Avhile the light shaft-stripes of the ear-coverts are nearly as 

 conspicuous as in P. milanjensis] there are also faint yellow 

 markings on the lower breast. 



93. Phyllostrophus flavistriatus. Yellow-streaked 

 Bulbul. 



Eh., P. This Bulbul probably varies slightly in its habits 

 according to the nature of the season. On March lltb. 



