DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTION, HABITS 



Hnhits. — -These lovely sun birds associate in pairs, and may 

 be seen sipping the nectar from the flowering trees, such as the 

 ICafir-boom, and from the aloes, heath, erica, and other flowers 

 of the veld and hillsides. The nest is suspended from the end 

 of a thin branch of a tree. It is very similar in shape to that 

 of the malachite sun bird. Clutch, 2 ; eggs smoky grey, 

 profusely mottled and streaked with brown and purple-brown ; 

 size, 0.75 by 0.52. 



Fiscal Shrike {Lanius collaris). (Vol. I., p. 256.) 



Description.^Bhck and white, as shown in the illustration. 

 Iris brown. Bill and legs black. 



Total lengthy 8.00 ; tail, 4.25 ; wing, 4.00. 

 The female has a chestnut-coloured streak along the flanks, 

 and the mantle is not so intensely black as that of the male. 



Distribution. — Common throughout Africa from the Cape 

 to Somaliland and Abyssinia. 



Habits. — These well-known shrikes may be seen in pairs 

 in any garden or field perched on posts, trees, telegraph wires, 

 etc., on the lookout for insect prey. The nest is cup shaped, 

 and wedged between two branches, or placed amongst the twigs 

 of a dense bush. The nest is built of stems of plants, usually 

 the Kafir tea plant. The inside is lined with root fibres, hair, 

 and feathers. Clutch, 3 to 4 ; eggs pale greenish, spotted 

 with pale brown, and usually a ring of brownish-purple blotches 

 at the larger end ; size, i.o by .70 to .90 by .75. 



Fiscal Shrike {Lanius collaris), (Also known as the 

 Jack Hangman and Butcher Bird.) (Vol. I., 

 p. 261.) 



This familiar bird is strictly territorial in its habits. When 

 a pair obtain possession of a suitable locality, they resent the 

 intrusion of others of their species. Although the fiscal shrike 

 breeds several times during the year and rears three to four 

 young ones each time, its numbers never increase in any area. 



VOL. ir. 97 7 



