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TERPSIPHONE CRISTATA. 353 
Specimens from most of our correspondents. It is found not far 
from Cape Town, at Somerset West, and in Drakenstein. It forms 
a deep nest, in the fork of some small branch of a tree, and generally 
in the neighbourhood of water. It is composed of fibres and dead 
leaves, stuck over with bits of bark, cobwebs, and lichens, to 
resemble a knot in the tree. Mr. L. C. Layard has sent to the 
South African Museum more than a dozen eggs of this bird. It is 
one of the handsomest and richest looking eggs that we know of, 
being of a rich cream-colour, spotted chiefly at the thick end with 
rich red spots, with here and there a pale purple one. These spots 
usually form a circle, more or less: sometimes they are thickest at 
the extreme top, at others they are distributed generally over the 
whole egg: axis, 9”; diam, 6’"’. We have seen several specimens 
of this Flycatcher collected by Mr. Andersson at the Knysna, where 
also Victorin procured it from September to November. He also 
obtained it in the Karroo in J. anuary. Mr. Rickard has met with it 
at Port Elizabeth, but says that near East London it is rather rare. 
In Natal, according to Mr. Thomas Ayres, “ these Flycatchers are by 
no means scarce; they frequent bushy land, and are found within a 
range of twenty miles from the coast. Their note is harsh, with 
the exception of one short warble which they frequently repeat, and 
which both male and female have to an equal degree. Their food 
consists of flies, gnats, and small bectles. Five or six of these 
pretty birds may frequently be seen together, generally one or two 
males to four or five females; and pleasant it is to watch their 
graceful motions when in pursuit of their food.” Captain Shelley 
also found them plentiful in the thick woods about Durban and 
Pinetown. Mr. F. A. Barratt writes :— I shot one of these birds 
near the town of Rustenburg, and I found them also near the 
waterfall under the mountain and by the side of an old stone wall. 
T have also seen them in the bush near Pretoria.””? In the Zambesi, 
Dr. Kirk states that it inhabits shaded forest, frequenting mango 
plantations. Mr. Andersson states: “I have only observed this 
very pretty and elegant Flycatcher in the neighbourhood of the 
Okavango River, where. however, it is scarce; at Lake N’gami it is 
less uncommon. The few specimens that I have personally secured 
were exceedingly wary and difficult to approach. These birds live 
in pairs and frequent the forests, perching only on the larger trees, 
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