108 Mr. E. 0. Chubb on Birds collected and 



branch close to the nest. The female then dived straight off 

 the nest into the water, and was seen swimming on the 

 surface (not with its body submerged, as is stated to be its 

 usual manner by some writers), with its head performing a 

 constant backward and forward motion ; no doubt, keeping 

 time with its feet as it paddled along. 



I visited the spot on Jan. 25th and took the accompanying 

 photograph. The nest was found to be a very rough structure 

 of dried reeds and coarse grass, lined with a few leaves. It 

 was very shallow, almost flat, and measured 11 inches in 

 diameter, being formed on the top of a large mass of dried 

 reeds, which had been washed down by the river when in 

 flood, and had been left attached to the branch of a tree 

 overhanging the water. It was about 6 feet above the 

 surface when Mr. Burrows first saw it, but when I was there 

 it was about 5 feet, the water having risen in the meantime. 



The eggs, two in number, are of a drab ground-colour, 

 with splashings of reddish-brovm, these being* very much 

 thicker at the broader end. They measure 2*05 X 1*G inches 

 = 52 X 41 millimetres. 



The stomach of the female, on examination, was found to 

 contain the remains of frogs. 



XIII. (6). — On Birds collected and observed at the Khami 



River, Mataleleland. By Ernest C. Chubb, F.Z.S. 

 The following list of birds is based upon a few skins collected 

 by Mr. Richard Douglas and myself during a week's stay at 

 the Ancient Ruins on the Khami River, about 11 miles west 

 of Bulawayo, in Oct. 1907. 



It includes the rare Mozambique Shrike {Dryoscopus 

 mossamhicus) ; while Caprimulgus trimaculatus is recorded 

 from Southern Rhodesia for the second time, having recently 

 been obtained by Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton in Gazaland *. 

 Similarly with regard to Aquila rapaw, Mr. Swynnerton was 

 the first to record the occurrence of this species in Southern 



Rhodesia. 



* See ' Ibis,' 1907, p. 281. 



