246



Mr. F. E. Blaauw,



black and white kingfisher, which I believe is found over nearly the

whole of Africa.


Walking on slowly, I now came upon a piece of a dead branch

that was hanging over the water, and on it was quite a small king¬

fisher in a gorgeous blue dress and with a red bill ( Corythornis

cyanostigmci). The blue of this little bird’s feathers was so brilliant

that our own kingfisher, I am sure, would look faded next to it.

A hundred yards farther I met a fourth species of kingfisher (Alcedo

semitorquata) which has a dark bill and is darker in colour and

larger than the other one.


In the hushes along the river there were a lot of weaver

birds’ nests hanging on the tips of the branches, looking like small

domed baskets. The owners were near and amused themselves with

uttering hissing sounds whilst busy at their works of art.


The river now ran into flat country on both sides and in the

shallows I saw a hamerkop ( Scopus umbretta) walking slowly about

and looking very grave, as these little brown-crested storks are apt

to do. The hamerkop is often seen along the water-courses of South

Africa and it is a quiet confiding bird. In most parts of Africa it

is said to build its big nest of sticks in trees, but in the parts which

I visited I found the nests in crevices in the rocks. Perhaps there

were no suitable trees in the neighbourhood of Oudtshoorn, near

Bredasdorp, etc.


Not far from where I saw the hamerkop there were several

examples of the black-necked heron (Ardea melanocephala) standing

in the shallow water.


On one of the banks, where a waggon track crossed the river,

there were some pepper-trees which had been planted along the road.

These trees bear long clusters of red berries, which contain each of

them a very strongly flavoured kernel, which the mouse-birds are

very fond of, and as I was looking at the trees, which are very orna¬

mental, a small family party of these curious birds flew 7 into them.

These birds can be distinguished at once; firstly, by their long tails,

and, secondly, by their way of alighting in a tree. When they

approach a tree they stop beating their w 7 ings, gliding on to the

branches with their wings extended like miniature aeroplanes. In

the tree they sit on the branches in such a way that the tarsi are



