THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



SODTH AFRICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. 



Vol. II. DECEMBER 1906. No. 2. 



XVIT. — Ihe Birds of Irene, near Pretoria, Tixinsvaal. 

 By Lionel E. Taylor, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



(Plate IV.) 



The following notes, which are the result of two years' 

 close observation of the birds of Irene, may, I trust, be of 

 interest. 



The small township of Irene is situated in the Transvaal, 

 10 miles south of Pretoria, on the main line to Johannesburg 

 (lat. 25° 52'-8 S., long. 28° 13'-3 E., altitude 4800 feet). The 

 country presents the usual features of the High Veld, being 

 almost bare of trees, with the exception of a Eucalyptus 

 plantation, a few clumps of scattered Acacias, and the 

 indigenous trees which skirt the river. 



The Hennops rivulet passing through the Irene Estate 

 flows in a N.W. direction to the Crocodile River. It is up 

 this comparatively well-wooded water valley wdiich the few 

 subtropical birds, which appear in the following list, make 

 their way. With these few exceptions the birds enumerated 

 are typical High Veld species. 



I have confined the list to birds obtained within a radius 

 of four milos from Irene Railway Station, thus excluding 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Pretoria, Avhich, lying almost 

 on the border line of the High Veld and Bush Veld, presents 

 features more closely resembling the latter. 



VOL. II. 6 



