116 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



The Sub-Family, MNIOTILTIN^, or Bush- 

 creepers, 



have the bill more or less acutely conical, with the culmen 

 sloping, and the sides compressed to the tip, which is slightly 

 emarginated ; the gonys long, and advancing upwards ; the 

 nostrils basal, with the openings more or less large and 

 exposed ; the wings rather long, and generally pointed ; 

 the tail moderate ; the tarsi as long as or longer than the 

 middle toe, covered in front with broad scales ; the toes long 

 and slender, with the outer toe usually longer than the 

 inner, and united at its base. 



Genus ZOSTEROPS, Vigors and Horsfield. 

 Bill moderate and slightly curved, with the culmen 

 curved, and the sides compressed to the tip, which is acute 

 and emarginated ; the gonys long, and slightly ascending j 

 the gape furnished with a few very short weak bristles ; 

 the nostrils basal, and placed in a broad groove, with the 

 opening closed by a lunate scale ; wings moderate, with the 

 first quill very small, and the fourth and fifth equal and 

 longest ; tail moderate, broad, and slightly emarginated in 

 the middle ; tarsi rather longer than the middle toe, and 

 covered in from with broad scales ; toes rather long ; with 

 the outer toe rather longer than the inner, and united at its 

 base ; the hind toe long, strong, and armed with a long 

 curved claw. 



215. Zoster ops CapcnsiS ; Z. MadagascuHensis, 

 Linu. ; Le Tcheric, Le Vaii., PI, 132 ; Sylvia Annu- 

 losa, Swain. Zool, 111., PI. 164; Z. Flavigula, Swain. 

 { Witteoogje, lit. white eye; and Glasoogje, lit. glass 

 eye.) 



Above, olive-green ; yellowish towards the rump ; below grey, 

 with throat, vent, and flanks greenish-yellow ; between the 

 bill and the eye a black line ; eye surrounded with a fringe 

 of white feathers. Length, 4" 9'" ; ' wing, 2" 3"'. 



The "white-eye" is ccmmon throughout the whole of the colony, 

 roaming about in small families of from 5 to 20 in number. During 

 the fruit season they do great damage to the apricots, peaches, plums, 

 &c. ; they also destroy the buds, to get at the insects that lurk therein. 

 "While on the wing, or feeding, they utter incessantly a stridulous chirp, 

 which generally is the first thing that reveals their presence. I never 

 saw them on the ground ; but they sometimes creep about low bushes. 

 They place their nests, which they conceal with great care, in a fork 

 caused by the union of several small t\^^gs. It is composed of moss 



