LANIID.1;. 161 



creeping about tlie thick mimosa bushes, as described by Le Vaillant, 

 uttering the cry which has obtained for" it the name given by that 

 traveller, whose description of its habits and food is correct. 



316. Telophonus Longirostris, Swain., 24 



Cent., p. ^282. 



Above, brown ; beneath cinereous ; cbin, ears, and stripe 

 above the eye, whitish ; ears margined above by a black 

 line ; bill much lengthened, and slightly curved. Length, 

 81" ; wing, 3" ; tail, 4'". 



Inhabits South Africa.— Dr. Burchell's collection. Swainson, "T^o 

 centenaries and a quarter.'' Swainson's type specimen is in the Cam- 

 bridge Museum, and appears to me identical with the preceding 

 . species. 



317. Telophonus Bacbakiri, Cab., Mus. Hein.. 



p. 70 ; Turdus Ceylonus, Linn. ; Lanius Bacbakiri, 

 Sh. ; Laniarius Bacbakiri, Vieil. ; L. Ornahts, Licht. ; 

 Le Bacbakiri, Le Vail., PI. 67 ; Telophonus Gollaris, 

 Sw. ; Cuv., Vol. ], p. 271. 



Above, dull-green ; below, bright chrome-yellow, with a 

 shining black horse-shoe collar across the chest ; a yellow 

 stripe extends from the base of the bill over the eye ; outer 

 tail-feathers broadly tipped with yellow. Female resembles 

 the male, except in being greenish underneath and wanting 

 the black bar. Length, 9f" ; wing, 4" ; tail, 3" 10'". 



Common throughout the colony, feeds on insects, and breeds in low 

 bushes, making a nest of small twigs and bents of grass, coarsely lined 

 with dry grass. Eggs, from three to five in number, of a beautiful 

 verditer colour, spotted with brown, chiefly at the obtuse end : axis, 

 12'"; diam., 9'". It is usually found in small families, except during 

 the breeding season. Its loud call of " bacbakiri," its imitative powers, 

 and bright plumage, render it one of the most conspicuous birds of the 

 colony. I have not unfrequently heard two birds uttering their pecu- 

 liar note for twenty or thirty minutes together— one bird giving out 

 the harsh " backbach,'^ the other the shrill " Uri," the two performers 

 being at a considerable distance from each other. 



Genus EURO CEPH ALUS, A. Smith. 

 Bill strong and short, with the culmen curved, and the 

 sides compressed to the tip, which is slightly emarglnated ; 

 the gonys long and ascending; the gape furnished with a 

 few short bristles ; the nostrils basal, with the opening oval, 

 and covered by the projecting frontal plumes ; wings long 

 and pointed, with the third quill the longest ; tail long and 

 rounded ; tarsi as long as the middle toe, strong, and covered 

 in front with strong transverse scales; toes short and strong, 



V 



