438 Mr. C. F. M. Svvyinierton on the 



yet heard, but with the Koa^ (or rather " tyo-tyok ") first, the 

 full call being roughly as follows : — 



Tyotyok, tyotyok, tyotyok, tyotyok ! 



Tyotyok, brekekekeh ! 



Tyotyok, brekekekeh ! 



Tyotyok, brekekekeh ! Kerrrr ! 

 I had for some time in my aviary one of these birds which 

 was brought to me by a native from the Jihu. It was very 

 tame from the first, allowing an approach to within a couple 

 effect of it without a sign of alarm. It fed freely on mealies, 

 Eleusine, and other grains. At night when going to roost 

 it became very suspicious and hard to please in its choice of 

 a perch. On landing on a branch it would crane its neck 

 in all directions to ascertain if there was any danger near, 

 then face round the other way and repeat the operation ; 

 then, still suspicious, it would fly off to another perch and 

 again investigate. Finally, after trying numbers of perches, 

 its suspicions lulled doubtless more by sleepiness than any- 

 thing else, it would settle down on its haunches for the night. 

 One of my specimens measured 21 inches in the flesh. Its 

 tarsi were light blue-grey, and its toes dusky. The bill was 

 very pale green-grey, semi-translucent, with a deeper blue- 

 grey base, the point of the culmen brownish. The bare 

 skin of the neck and head were blackish tinged with blue, 

 excepting for the fold of skin and a spot in front of the 

 ear, which were ochreous whitish. The irides were bright 

 carmine. 



264. TuRNix LEPURANA. Kurrichane Hemipode. 



Rh. Like the Harlequin Quail, these Hemipodes appear 

 to be particularly plentiful and destructive at the time of 

 the ripening of the native Eleusine-crop in May and June, 

 and are then trapped in some numbers by means of snares. 

 Two of my specimens measured respectively 5*7 and 5*9 

 inches in the flesh. The feet are pale greyish or brownish 

 white. 



265. LiMNOcoRAX NIGER. Black Crake, 



P. I found this Crake in some numbers in December 



