JRaiiihling JS^otes on Birds. 103 



darted swiftly past me, uttering an angry series of rapidly 

 repeated, creaky, clicking notes. Here, also, Anthus 

 hracliyurus was found to be fairly common ; but owing to 

 its habit of remaining concealed in the long grass^ and its 

 erratic flight when flushed, I had great difficulty in procuring 

 a specimen. It agrees exactly with Shelley's figure of the 

 species. When disturbed this bird either flies swiftly off 

 and settles sharply in the grass, or rises in the air, hovering 

 in a circle overhead and uttering a quiet chirp. It invariably 

 runs after it has settled in the grass, and one can never be 

 sure where it will fly up. I have twice seen it at Wakker- 

 stroom, but on both occasions failed to secure the bird, 

 althouo-h I pursued them for a Ions; time. 



At a jdace in the grassy valley, opposite the Leper Asylum, 

 to the west of Pretoria, I found two nests of a species of the 

 true Hemipterijx, and watched them from the time they were 

 being built until they contained four and two eggs respec- 

 tively. On this last occasion (24th January) I was pressed 

 for time and intended to spend the following afternoon in 

 trapping the parents, but such was my misfortune that I got 

 caught in a terrific hailstorm a few minutes later, and the 

 nests were completely smashed and all but two of the eggs 

 broken by the hailstones. I did not subsequently see the 

 birds and think that they must have been killed in the 

 storm. Near the same spot I secured a specimen of Cisticola 

 terrestris. In the open veld Hemipteryx minnta seems to be 

 replaced in this valley by a larger species, and I spent the 

 whole of an afternoon trying to secure specimens. I found 

 a nest, which was Cisticoline in shape and structure, con- 

 taining three young birds ; one of these I took, and then 

 went in search of the parents. After wandering about in 

 the vicinity for some time without seeing them, I returned 

 to the nest and found that the other young ones had left it. 

 A clicking note arrested m;y attention, but I could not locate 

 it for some time. At last I saw a bird fly u[), just skinnning 

 the grass in its flight, and I followed in pursuit ; but it 

 ])rovod to be a " AVill-o'-the-Wisp,'' for, after hunting it up 



