320 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
habiting Western Africa. Captain Shelley remarks that this is 4 bird of 
the interior and never appears near the coast. Sir Andrew Smith 
procured it at Kurrichaine, and during his recent journey from Natal 
to Matabili Land Mr. T. E. Buckley shot several specimens in Bamang- 
wato towards the end of October, 1873, and he also met with it on the 
Tatti River in the early part of the same month. He says that it 
was “ quite the commonest sun-bird from north of Pretoria into the 
Matabili country. They were generally to be seen in pairs, or 
perhaps two cocks chasing a hen. Like all dark-coloured sun-birds 
the beautiful plumage of the male is only to be seen on a near 
approach. Mr. Ayres writes :—* This lovely little bird I first shot 
at some distance from the river Limpopo during July. I found 
several feeding among some aloes, but they were very shy and 
difficult to obtain. Flowers being at that season exceedingly scarce, 
they frequently hunted for small insects amongst the dry seed-tops 
of the high grass, hovering round the stem as a humming-bird 
would do, and thus remaining stationary, but darting away imme- 
diately on my approach, so that I found it difficult to get within 
forty or fifty yards of them.” A specimen from the Zambesi is in 
the British Museum. Mr. Andersson observes :—‘‘ This species is 
very common in Ondonga and is not uncommon in Damara Land; 
it is also found at Lake N’gami. It is usually seen in pairs and 
frequents the banks of periodical streams. I never saw it far away 
from such localities.” 
We follow Captain Shelley in the nomenclature of the South 
African sun-birds and the following diagnosis of the present bird 
is taken from his monograph. “Above metallic green, with a 
coppery lustre; the head and the neck all round uniform with the 
back ; across the lower throat a collar of metallic steel blue, and 
below that another broad pectoral collar of red; the feathers of the 
latter being slightly margined with steel blue ; rest of under surface 
of body, wings, and tail black. Total length, 51 inches; culmen, 
0°15; wing, 2°7; tail, 2-1; tarsus, 0°7.’’ 
Fig. Shelley, Monogr. Oinnyride, part I. 
305. ANTHODIETA COLLARIS. Natal Collared Sun-bird. 
Nectarina collaris, Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 77. 
Entirely a bird of the Eastern districts, not approaching nearer 
than the province of Uitenhage, whence we have received specimens. 
a 
