Birds of Albany JJiviaion, Cape Colomj. 89 



leaving the extreme pointed end unspotted. It is somewhat 

 glossy and measures 23*5 x 18*5 mm. Fig. 12, Plate III. — 

 N.B. This egg agrees verj' well wath fig 7, plate xiii. Cat. 

 Birds' Eggs in Brit. Mus, vol. iv., where it is named Pomato- 

 rhynchiis senegalus (Linn.), p. 293, and stated to come from 

 Natal & South Africa.* (H. G.) 



This bird has the same peculiar whistle — two notes ascending 

 followed by the same in a descending scale ; in habits it also 

 resembles senegalus. It frequents open bush-veld, but it is 

 a shy bird : although one may hear it calling, it is often 

 difficult to obtain a sight of the whistler, as it creeps through 

 the bush and flies away on the opposite side before one can 

 get near enough to see it. 



73. Dryoscopus cubla (Shaw). Lesser Puff-back Shrike. 



Fairly common in the wooded kloofs. The nest is a neat cup- 

 shaped structure of root and fibres, the outside being usually 

 composed of the strips of the palm-like leaves of a Dracena 

 sp. ?, thickly matted with cobwebs, and always built round the 

 fork or branch on which it is placed. The eggs are usually 

 three in number and of a pinkish-white ground-colour, 

 thickly spotted at the obtuse ends with small dots of deep 

 pinkish brown. The nests are frequently right on the top 

 fronds of some high forest tree, and are very difficult to locate, 

 and often as difficult to get at when found. 



Two males — presumably young birds, although the testes 

 were fully developed — were procured in June 1906, and 

 were identical with the female in full plumage, except that the 

 iniderparts were a little more fulvous ; irides hazel-brown. 



74. Dryoscopus rufiventris (Shaw). Greater Puff-back 

 Shrike. 



Common in the l)ush-veld, building a very shallow nest of 

 rootlets and small twigs in the centre of a thick bush. 



75. Laniarius gutturalis (P. L. S. MiilL). Bakbakiri. 

 Exceedingly common. Nests of this bird containing eggs 



are found at all times of the year. 



* [The eggs of sefiegalus can never be confused with tchayra, diff eiing 

 considerably. — A. II.] 



