22. Rev. Noel Roberts on 



of them nor of any of the genns Biiteo, of which desertoruni, 

 and I think jakal, were present in the hot months. 



On the 29th of April at 8.30 a.m., and about 14 miles north 

 of the Crocodile River and Delagoa Bay Railway, I saw what 

 may have been a migration. A long line of birds (about 60) 

 was flying steadily northwards at a height of at least 

 600 feet from the ground — possibly more, as it carried them 

 well over the tops of the hills. The distance was unfortunately 

 too great for me to identify them even with glasses, but they 

 were certainly large birds of the Stork type. A group of 

 birds flew at the head and a single file streamed out behind. 

 The wind was blowing steadily from the south. They came 

 over the tops of the hills some two miles to my front, and I 

 watched them out of sight northwards. 



V. — Pyromelana oryx and its Nesthuj Parasites. 

 By the Rev. Noel Roberts. 



The following notes may interest readers of the ' Journal.' 

 On Dec. 9th of last year I visited a large colony of nests 

 of Pijromelana oryx about fifteen miles north of Pretoria. 



Having noticed several Grolden Cuckoos ( C. cupreus) on a 

 willow tree overhanging part of the colony, I examined every 

 nest, hojiing to find a clutch containing a Cuckoo's egg. The 

 search revealed several nests occupied by young birds of this 

 species, one of which was almost fully fledged, and I was 

 amply rewarded by finding four clutches each containing a 

 Cuckoo's egg. These specimens differ from any I have seen 

 before in that they are of an uniform verditer-blue, like the 

 eggs of the host, from which they" could be distinguished by 

 their greater size. This disparity in size did not quite 

 convince me at first, as I have on several occasions found 

 diminutive specimens in otherwise normal clutches of P. oryx 

 and other birds. In this case, however, the proof of the egg 

 lay in the blowing, and the application of this test produced 

 incontrovertible evidence as to the correctness of my surmise^ 



