K(jo-L'oUect'nig m t/ie Bii^lirchJ. 7 



country, but its nest is not so well known. The ncstinji- 

 season is usually the winter, and the nest is placed in so 

 open a situation that one does not think of looking for it 

 unless knowing the bird's habits ; a hollow is scratched in the 

 bare ground, usually a soft hollow such as tliat made by the 

 hoofs of cattle during the preceding rainy season, and in this 

 the nest is made of dry grass-blades wiih a finer lining of 

 rootlets in the shape of a neat little cup ; the grass is then 

 carefully covered with bits of earth or dry cow-dung, so that 

 all there is to catch the eye is the neat little cavity containing 

 the eggs. As these birds nearly always squat close to the 

 ground until one is close at hand, they are not particularly 

 noticeable when they fly up from a nest, and in this there 

 is an additional protection. The eggs are usually two in 

 number, rather paler and more finely speckled than in those 

 of the majority of larks found in the Transvaal, and measure 

 about 19 X 14-7. 



Finch-Larks {Pyrrlndaitda smitlti et P.australis)iive often 

 met with in parties or small flocks near the road^ l)ut I have 

 not so far found their eggs. 



The Tawny Pipit {AntJius rufnlas raalteiii) is found singly 

 or in pairs in most valleys and sometimes in the open veld. 

 So far, no one seems to have noled that this Pipit rises sky- 

 ward and sings like a Lark ; this it does frequently, and 

 though its song is not very remarkable, yet it is something to 

 be noticed in places where so few birds are to be seen or 

 heard. It rises in a series of short, sharp stages, and dijjs 

 down every now and then uttering a few notes like " (Jhirri, 

 chirri, chirri.'' Its nest is placed in a variety of situations, 

 usually in the middle of a patch of grass, or, in places where 

 it is much disturbed, in the middle of a dwarf " inispel wacht- 

 een-bietje" bush. The eggs are laid throughout the earlier 

 summer months, three or four forming a clutch; they vary 

 somewhat in colour, as a rule being heavily clouded, espe- 

 cially at the thickest part, with didl, earthy reddish brown, 

 and with a little slate-colour; sometimes the markings are 

 suff"used with slate-colour, while in other clutches the 



