14t6 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



rated among those wkiuh only exist in South Africa, in Le Vaillant'i* 

 book. I took its nest, or that of a closely allied species, in Mauritius, 

 situated in the fork of a tree — a deep, warm, thickly-lined, cap-shaped 

 structure, containing three white eggs, spotted profusely with purpleish- 

 brown. 



276. Tchitrea Melanogaster, Swain. ; Nat. 



Lib., Vol. XII, p. 55. 



Crest, head, neck, and breast, black, glossed with chaly- 

 beate-blue ; body beneath, in the young bird, grey-black ; 

 back, tail, and under-covers, rufous ; wings, black and 

 rufous, the colours divided by a white stripe ; tail long ; 

 lateral feathers graduated ; the two centre being, when full- 

 grown, six inches longer than the others. Length, exclusive 

 of two centre tail-feathers, 8"; wing, 3" 4'"; tail, 9". 

 Inhabits Kaffraria. — Hartlaub, Orn. W. of Af., p. 90. 



277. Tchitrea Cyanomelas ; Musdcapa Cyano- 



melns, Vieil. ; Cuv., Vol. 1, p. 329 ; Fhilentoma 

 Cyaiwrnelas, Bp. Consp., 324 ; Muscipeta Scapularis, 

 Staph.; Le Gobe Mouches Mantel^, Le Vail., PI. 151. 



J? — Head crested, shining blue-back ; neck above and below 

 the same; upper parts bluish-grey, with a white wing stripe; 

 under parts white. 9 : head, crest, neck, and under parts, 

 bluish-grey ; wings, tail, and back, clear brown. Length, 

 6^" ; wing, 2" 9'" ; tail, 3^". 



Le VaUlant found this bird in the forests of Onteniqua, and in the 

 mimosa groves of Kaffraria : a pair frequently entered his tent, and 

 sat on his chair or a box, catching flies. He often handled them 

 without opposition. The male had a sharp stridulous cry, with which 

 it would summon its female if she lingered behind. Neither Le 

 Vaillant nor his hunters ever found the nest. 



Mr. Gurney has received this species from Natal (Ibis Vol. 1862, p. 

 30) ; and Mr. G. Eex procured a single specimen of the d at the 

 Knysna. 



278. Tchitrea Torquata ; Muscipeta Pectoralis, 



Swain. ; Sylvia Melanoleuca, Vieil. ; Le Gordon Noir, 

 Le Vail., PI. 150; M. Torquata, Gm. ; M. Capends, 

 Kuhl. ; Cuvier, Vol 1, p. 341. 



Above black ; beneath white ; chest, black in the male ; red 

 in the female ; back and wings blackish-brown, with a white 

 patch ; tail iu the male, black, with the lateral feathers 



