18 .Air. W. L. Sclater on the 



Aj)ril; and a POTithern race breeding in South Africa from 

 October to March, and wintering in Central Africa from 

 April to September ; ])iit, so far, no one has succeeded in 

 pointing out any distinction in {)luniage between the two 

 supposed races, Bee-eaters from Spain and from South Africa 

 appearing to be absolutely identical. 



The case of the Bee-eater is certainly the best authenticated, 

 but there are several other northern migrants which appear 

 to breed with us : the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops per- 

 siciis), breeding in South-w^est Asia, was found nesting by 

 Kirk on the Zambesi, and by Ayres on the Vaal ; Mr. Ivy, 

 of Grahamstown, took a nestling Great Spotted Cuckoo 

 [Cocci/stes glandar'ws) from the nest of a Red-winged Starling 

 near Grahamstown in December, and kept it alive till April. 

 This bird is a northern breeder, found commonly in Spain, 

 Avhere it frequently deposits its eggs in the nest of a Magpie. 

 The English C-orncrake is a common bird between the months 

 of December and March in the Transvaal and Natal, though 

 rarer in Cape Colony. Mr. Fitzsimnions, of the Maritzburg 

 Museum, has sent me an egg which he believes to be that of 

 this bird, and of Avhich a good many specimens have been 

 brought to him. It agrees very well with the European 

 eggs of the same species, and I know no reason to doubt its 

 authenticity. Mr. G. A. K. Marshall informs me that the 

 European Roller, another northern migrant, nests in 

 Mashonaland, while there are several species, such, for 

 instance, as the Curlew and Whimbrel, which can be met 

 with occasionally all the year round in South Africa, but 

 which are not yet known to breed within our limits. 



The second group of migratory birds which I have dis- 

 tinguished under the name of African Migrants number 

 twenty-one. These birds arrive in South Africa with the 

 northern migrants in October, and after spending the summer 

 with us leave again in March, but, whilst here, they nest in 

 the usual way ; so far as we know, these birds winter in 

 Tropical and Central Africa, but observations on this point 

 are wanted in many cases. 



A good example of this class of birds is the Larger Stripe- 



