CAMPETHERA ABINGTONI. 183 
their never having seen an example from the western side of the 
continent, nor have we ourselves been more fortunate. Swainson 
gives no exact locality for his species, and our impression is that it 
is a bird of South Africa alone. Sir A. Smith procured specimens 
near Port Natal, and as his description of C. abingtoni clearly refers 
to the present species, we have resuscitated the latter name pub- 
lished in 1836, over that of C. chrysuwra of Swainson, which was 
not-published before 1837. Mr. Gurney, in his early lists of Natal 
birds, identified specimens sent to him by Mr. Ayres as C. chrysura, 
but he afterwards (Ibis, 1862, p. 37) referred to the species as 
Dendromus smithii. The British Museum, however, possesses one 
of Mr. Ayres’ specimens collected about this time, and we believe 
that the first determination was right, and that there was no need to 
change the name. As far as we are at present aware, the species is 
confined to Natal, where, according to Mr. Ayres, it is found all the 
year round. The following notes are from his pen:— This Wood- 
pecker makes a hole, for the purposes of incubation, in the trunk 
of a decayed tree, just large enough at the opening for the bird to 
enter, but becoming wider inside, and reaching downwards to a 
depth of a foot or eighteen inches; ,it lays its eggs on the bare 
wood, without making any nests.” Later on he observes :— These 
Woodpeckers are to be found throughout the colony, wherever there 
is bush-land, singly or in pairs; their note is loud and harsh; they 
are very restless in their halits, constantly hunting for food as if 
they never obtained a sufficiency ; ants and other insects appear to 
be their usual food, which they search for and catch on the rough 
bark of trees; they also hammer away at dead boughs, from which 
they extract soft grubs, &c.; their flight is heavy and dipping.” 
We are indebted to Mr. Sydney Cuthbert for a specimen of this 
bird from Suazi Land. 
Adult male.—Above olive-green, the bases to the feathers lighter, 
all the dorsal plumes spotted with olive-yellow, the subterminal one 
being diamond-shaped ; lower back and rump barred across with 
white, the bars always pervaded more or less with an olive tinge, 
the upper tail-coverts somewhat shaded with golden brown and 
barred with darker brown, the shafts being yellowish; upper wing- 
coverts more distinctly olive-brown than the back, somewhat shaded 
with golden, all of them spotted with yellowish white, the shafts 
being also of the latter colour ; quills deep brown, externally shaded 
