Birds of Gazaland. 87 



movements and actions it strongl}'- resembled the English 

 Robin, but was perfectly silent throughout. 



I again found four of these ngsts during the past season, 

 one of them in a clump of Asplenium furcatum within a 

 foot of a last-season's nest. In situation, construction, 

 and materials they exactly resembled those described in 

 the 'Ibis' for 1907 (p. G6), and the same applies both 

 to the eggs and to the behaviour of the birds at the nest. 

 Levaillant was therefore undoubtedly wrong in his descrip- 

 tion of the nest and eggs {vide W. L. Sclater, Fauna 

 of S. A., Birds^ ii. p. 219). I have examined 55 stomachs 

 in all, which, in addition to the objects detailed in my 

 previous paper, contained a moth, a wasp-like dipterous 

 insect, a bug, a small coprophilous beetle, a wasp, and 

 seeds. Beetles, however, form this bird's main food, with, 

 when they are in season, the berries of the large forest 

 Celtis. In the young bird tiie bill is a not very dark 

 vandyk-brown, instead of black as in the old bird ; the iris 

 slightly darker brown ; toes and tarsi also vandyk, but quite 

 pale, the back of the tarsus, knee-joints, and toes tinged 

 yellow ; soles yellow. Thirty-five of these Robins measured 

 in the flesh gave an average of 6'36 inches, with a varia- 

 tion of from 5'9 to 6'75, while a somewhat abnormally large 

 bird measured 7*12 inches and an immature bird 5'5. 



A bird trapped in Chirinda on May 28th, 1905 (No. 290)," 

 was coloured in rather a curious manner, looking as though 

 it had lain for a long time in spirits ; but as at that time 

 numbers of these Robins were coming to my mammal-traps, 

 and this was the only aberrant individual out of a long 

 series taken at the same spot, I am convinced that it was 

 a mere " sport " and not specifically distinct. Head dark 

 grey-blue, but slightly lighter than in typical form and not 

 extending quite so far back on to the nape. Wherever the 

 typical bird is bright yellow this specimen is cream-colour, 

 and the bright yellowish olive of the former's back is here 

 replaced by ashy grey tinged with greenish. In its measure- 

 ments it is much the same : culmcn 07, wing 3*5, tail 2'54, 

 and tarsus 1*04< inches. 



