16 Mr. H. Leigliton Hare on 



towards the end of summer. I believe it is the general 

 opinion that this bird, after depositing its egg in some other 

 bird's nest, takes no farther interest in its offspring. This 

 is not always the case. I have it from a very reliable 

 gentleman in Barkly West that a young Didric was once 

 hatched in a Sparrow's nest under his verandah, and that 

 after leaving the nest it remained in the vicinity and was 

 fed daily for a week or more by a pair of adult Cuckoos as 

 well as by its foster-parents. 



It is perhaps hardly necessary to mention that the Cape 

 Sparrow {Passer arcuatus) is a perniiinent resident here and 

 is plentiful. The Grrey-headed Sparrow (P. diffusus) is 

 found in the neighbourhood of the Orange River, where it 

 forms a ))Oundary of the district. Recently, in Gordonia 

 district, I frequently saw these two species mixing together 

 freely. When feeding on the ground one peculiarity^ was 

 very noticeable, namely, that, while the Cape Sparrow in- 

 variably hopped, the Grey-headed Sparrow almost alwa^'S 

 ran, after the manner of a Lark. I found this bird breeding 

 at Kakamas during December of last year. The nest was 

 situated in a hole in the trunk of a tree about 8 feet from 

 the ground, but I was unable to examine it closely as there 

 were several large wasp-nests near the entrance. 



The S.A. White-bellied Swift {Ci/pselus africamis) and 

 the Black Swift (C barbatus) are only seen occasionally. 

 I once shot one of the latter on the slopes of Table Mountain, 

 Cape Town, and found in its throat a ball, about the size of 

 an ordinai-y marble, of small spiders and flying beetles, many 

 of which were still alive. The spiders had doubtless been 

 t-aken from their webs slung between bushes and trees on 

 the hill-side. The Indian Swift (C. a^nis) and the African 

 White-rumped Swift (C. ca/fei') are both very common, and 

 breed in the district. Some nests of the former, easily dis- 

 tinguishable by the external covering of feathers, may be 

 seen sandwiched in between a number of those of the S.A. 

 Cliff-Swallow [P etrochelidon spilodera) under the eaves of 

 the Reformed Church at Philipstown. The White-rumped 

 species is found breeding in old Swallow-nests or deserted 



