DESCRIPTION, DISTRIBUTION, HABITS 



Distrihut'ion. — ThrouglKuit Africa, south of Abyssinia and 

 Senegal. In South Africa this bird is everywhere fairly common, 

 being found in abundance from the Cape to the Zambesi. 



Habits. — The hammerkop is usually seen solitary, or 

 in pairs. It is never found far from water, whether of 

 rivers or lakes, among the shallows of which it hunts for its 

 food, which consists mainly of insects, small fish, and frogs. 

 It is very often seen standing in the shallows with its head 

 between its shoulders, meditative and motionless. They 

 have a harsh metallic cry, and are seen chiefly at dusk. When 

 two or three individuals meet, they often go thrcnigh the most 

 strani^e antics, such as dancins; and bowin<2; to one another ; 

 these are all the more ludicrous, being performed by so serious 

 looking a bird. They become attached to certain localities, 

 where they remain for many years at a time. The nest is 

 usually built on a krantz, or sometimes in a tree, but always 

 near water. It is a huge structure of sticks, twigs, and grass, 

 more or less cemented together with mud. The nest is 

 somewhat dome shaped. The entrance, always on the most 

 inaccessible side of the nest, is by a narrow passage into 

 a rounded central chamber, whose walls are plastered with mud. 

 Here the eggs are laid. They are usually 4 in number, 

 and are chalky-white in colour. They measure on the average 

 1.80 by 1.40. The nest is, in most cases, so strongly built that 

 one can stand on the roof without fear of damaging it. The 

 outside of the nest is very often decorated with old tins, bones, 

 and any other objects which take the bird's fancy. 



Snake Bird, or Darter {Plotus rufus). (Vol. II., p. 205.) 



Description.— QxoyNn, back of neck, and upper part of back 

 dark brown, finely mottled with dark rufous and black. Lower 

 back, wing, and tail black. Scapulars, lesser and median wing 

 coverts have median white stripe. Greater coverts bronze- 

 brown on the outer web. Below throat and neck rufous. 

 Narrow white band bordering throat and forehead. The 

 skin round the eye and about 4 in. along the side of neck white. 

 Above a broader black band. Lower neck and rest of under 



VOL. II. 161 II 



