GOLD- VENTED THRUSH. 249 



kindly lent by Dr. Burkitt to the Editor, induce him to refer 

 it, almost without hesitation, to the very well-known Pycno- 

 noUis capensis * — a common species at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, of which Mr. Edgar Layard in his ' Birds of South 

 Africa ' writes as follows (p. 138) : — 



" These birds are found in great abundance in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Cape Town, and indeed throughout the whole 

 colony. They migrate according to the fruit season, and 

 are especially partial to figs and grapes. They also feed 

 largely on the berries of the 'Persian Lilac,' and when that 

 tree is in fruit, any number might be shot by a person lying 

 in ambush near. When feeding, they keep up a continual 

 chattering, and as they usually go in flocks of ten or fifteen 

 in number, their presence is soon detected. 



" These birds conceal their nests so skilfully, that they 

 are rarely detected, notwithstanding their numbers. It is 

 composed of rootlets, lined sometimes with hair and feathers, 

 and is generally placed in the fork of a tree or bush. The 

 eggs, three or four in number, are a lovely pale pink, densely 

 spotted and blotched Avith dark pink and pale purple, pre- 

 senting a most beautiful appearance." One sent by Mr. 

 Layard to the Editor measures '95 by -65 in. 



The bill black ; the irides probably dark brown ; the head, 

 neck, back, wings and tail uniform umber-brown ; the 

 feathers on the forehead and crown slightly elongated, form- 

 ing a crest when elevated, the plumage of the whole bead 

 being a shade darker in colour than that of the body ; throat 

 and neck in front clove-brown, becoming lighter on the 



* The mistake is more singular since the present species, having been already 

 figured by Brisson (Ornithologie, ii. p. 259, tab. 27, fig. 3) as the Merle brun 

 du Cap de Bonne Esperance, was also very fairly represented by Le Vaillant in 

 his work before quoted (pi. 105) under the name of the Brunei, originally con- 

 ferred upon it by De Montbeillard (Hi.st. Nat. des Ois. iii. p. 390) and subsequently 

 adopted by Latham (Synops. ii. part i. p. 70). If the rule of priority extended 

 to vulgar as to scientific names it would be necessary to use the lasi author's 

 "Brunet Thrush" for this species— an outlandish term which would certainly 

 have the merit of showing that the bird, however it may have reached Ireland, 

 as there is no room to doubt it did, has no just claim to be considered otherwise 

 than a foreigner. 



VOL. I. K K 



