4(3 Mr. A. Uobevfcs on I3inL-< in 



In April, 1911, when in the nciolibourhood o£ Makapan's 

 Caves in the Northern Transvaal, I noticed a 3'0un<T V. serena 

 accompanying a flock of Estrilda astrild, and pointed it out 

 to the Hon. Paul Methuon, who was with me at the time ; 

 but though I followed it for some distance, I eventuall}' lost 

 sight of it and gave up the chase. The plumage was so 

 different from that of the Roodebekkies, and the call so 

 distinct, that there was no mistaking the identity. As 

 further proof of what I have written in this connection, an 

 interesting note by Mr. Frank Bolus, in October, 1909, 

 number of this Journal, seems to indicate that, like the 

 ('uckoo, this species first deposits its egg on the ground and 

 then carries it to the nest of some other bird. 



Steganura paradisea (Linn.). R. 1542. (2 M.) 

 Resident. 



I. brown ; B. black ; L. brown. Leng. 301-305 ; W. 81; 

 Tl. 211-220 ; Ts. 15-lG ; C. 10-5-12. 



These AVidow Birds were more often seen basking in the 

 sun in tli(! mornings tlian at any other time, usually 

 resorting to the dead to})S of trees on the edge of the clearing- 

 facing east as soon as the sun had dispersed the morning 

 mists, and a short time afterwards ihcy would rise higher 

 than the trees and disperse in all directions. 



Petronia siPERCiLiARis BORORKNSis, subsp. nov. R. 15G0. 

 (1 M., 1 F.) Resident. 



I. brown ; B. brown, horn-whito below ; L. dark slate. 

 Leng. ICO ct 157 ; W. 95 k .S9 ; Tl. 59 & 57 ; Ts. 17-5 & 10; 



( '. il k 1 ;'.. 



Th(!S(' two specimens are very much judcr tlian those 

 fi-om Union territory, especially on tlu; uudci- surface of 

 the l>ody. 



The Boror Yellow-throated Sparrow was common at Villa 

 Pereira and the neighbourhood of native villages. Its call 

 is an umiiusical grating chirp, which it is fond of uttering 

 while percliT'd on tin- to[> of some smtill tree. 



