about Birds along the River near Oudtshoorn.



247



lower than the toes, looking as if their legs were dislocated or power¬

less to keep the body in its proper position. To eat the berries of

the pepper-tree they hang themselves by their toes on the end of

the hanging clusters, their heads being placed between their toes,

like an acrobat who hangs by his hands on a trapeze. The birds I

observed at this spot belonged to the species Colius striatus, which

is grey all over. It was a pair of old birds with a brood of young

ones. The old birds could be distinguished by their longer tails and

the glossy white spots on the sides of the bill.


As I left the river to return through the fields I came across

a specimen of Lanius gutturalis which had been drinking and was

having a fight with two yellow-vented bulbuls (Pycnonotus capensis).

This bush shrike is a very beautiful bird ; it is mostly green with

yellow underside. In the tail there are fine black and yellow mark¬

ings and the throat is of a very vivid yellow inscribed by a black line.

In some places it is called by the Cape Dutch Klaas Pierewiet and

in others Bakbakiri. It is one of the most interesting birds I know,

and it certainly is a very intelligent one. As a rule one finds it in

the open Veld, where occasional small bushes form shelters.


Country like this is found to the north of Oudtshoorn in the so-

called “ Small Karroo.” If one walks there one’s attention is often

attracted by curious noises, which are sometimes very soft and

melodious, and at others harsh, like a creaking waggon. If one

walks to the spot where the noises come from one can often find

nothing to account for them, but if one has luck one just catches a

glimpse of a yellow and green bird which disappears between the

bushes. This is our shrike, Klaas Pierewiet, who was making fun

of the passer-by. Sometimes one sees him sitting on the top of a

hay-rick where he is quietly observing you ; all the time amusing

himself with his weird noises, but generally you only hear the notes

without seeing the bird. Sometimes they answer each other, and

then the place is full of unaccountable music and strange sounds.


This bird in its ways forcibly reminded me of another which

I had met in the virgin forests of Southern Chile (Pteroptoclvus

rubecula) which also cannot resist a conversation with a traveller,

and during a trip to that country in 1911 it took me a long time

before I knew who was the author of a strange wild laugh which



