Kgg-Collect'uKj in the Bushveld. 41 



(jtrey Tit {Paras afer). — Eggs taken in November in the 

 Wolmaranstad District on 28th November are white with a 

 fairly heavy sprinkling of light red and a little slate-blue, 

 and measure 17-4-17-7 x 13*8-14-G mm. 



Tit-Babbler {Parisoma suhccvruleum) . — This noisy bird is 

 very common throughout the bushveld. Its call-note always 

 attracts attention, and in following it the excited gestures of 

 the bird are easily distinguishable amongst the matted trees; 

 the call sounds something like " Tirr te-te-te," though this 

 hardly expresses the sound. The nest is a neat thin affair 

 composed of grass-stems firmly bound together with cobwebs 

 and placed amongst the overhanging branches of a small 

 tree, usually at the base of a cluster of twigs of an epiphytic 

 growth. The eggs are two (rarely three), with beautiful 

 marking's of greenish brown and clearly defined underlying 

 markings of blue-grey, and measure 17'5x 14 mm. 



When searching some nests of Plocepasser maliali at 

 Platriver, I found in one of them two partly incubated eggs 

 of this bird. I was naturally much surprised, and thinking 

 that they might be those of some other bird, looked about, 

 and there, not six feet from me amongst the branches was 

 the parent anxiously but silently watching me, leaving no 

 doubt as to their identity, 1 think that when the storm 

 arose the previous day the intelligent bird must have realized 

 its danger in the exposed nest and transferred the eggs to 

 the more substantial one of the Bower Finch. At CJrocodile 

 Hiver some years ago, I was caught in a terrible hail-storm, 

 that left the mountain above covered with hailstones, in some 

 places five feet thick where they had drifted, and subse- 

 quently I found several dead birds and broken nests of this 

 species besides numerous others. Doubtless the intelligent 

 bird above-mentioned must have learnt by some exjierience 

 of this sort and profited by it. 



Smith's Grass-Warbler [Cisdcola cldniana). — Though very 

 common throughout the bushveld this Ijird is not very often 

 seen close at hand; it is very wary and seldom allows one 

 to a[)proach it. The males sing loudly from the top of the 



