94 The Oologists' Record, December i, 1921. 



the lateral kloofs of Mlanje, Zomba, Chiradzulu, and many of the 

 lesser hills.. 



Practically all our knowledge of Nyasaland birds was gained in 

 the ten years before the present century began. In that decade 

 twenty-eight new species were found ; all of them (except a parrot 

 from Liwonde) in the Highlands, and most of them being forest 

 species. Eleven of them are, so far as I can learn, peculiar to the 

 Protectorate. These are : — 



Crawshay's Francolin, Francoliniis craivshayi. 



Bertrand's Bush Shrike, Chlorophoneus berirandi. 



Mlanje Bulbul, Pkyllastrephus mlanjensis. 



Mlanje Thrush, Turdus mlanjensis. 



Alethe, Alethe anomala. 



Yellow-throated Bush Warbler, Apalis flavigularis. 



Nyasa Reed-Warbler, Bradypterus nyasce. 



Whyte's Crombec, SylvieUa whytei. 



Lesser Thick-billed Weaver-finch, Pyrenesfes minor. 



Green-headed Oriole, Oriolus chlorocephalus. 



Sharpe's Weaver, Othyphantes sharpii. 



One or two of these may have to be relegated to the rank of 

 sub-species. The Oriole is probably the most distinct of the 

 peculiar species. 



A list compiled from all available sources gives some 450 species 

 for the Protectorate. Probably there will be many additions in the 

 future, for in the past twelve months I have noted several not pre- 

 viously recorded, for example Riparia rnfigula, Hirundo griseopyga, 

 Heliolais kirbyi, Cisticola erythrops, C. brachyptera (— C. rufa), 

 another Cisticola not yet identified, and Cinnyris afer. Nyasaland 

 lies at the point where the East African and South African sub- 

 regions meet ; its affinities are with South Africa except in the case 

 of birds inhabiting the forest-patches, which exhibit rather East 

 African relationships. 



The Shire Valley, which as yet I have not had opportunity to 

 explore, promises better, but I never knew a belt of country where 

 nests were either so few or so hard to find as is the case in the Shire 

 Highlands. Many causes contribute to the comparative scarcity of 

 birds, most whereof may be traced to their ultimate source in the 

 settlement of the country by Europeans. Thirty years ago, when 

 it began, the native population was ver3^ small in these cold uplands, 



