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420 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA, 
of the nests are quite inaccessible, while others can be reached 
with a little trouble. We counted six or eight within fifty yards, 
all exhibiting the same form and structure, and some of them 
containing at least a large cart-load of sticks. Mr. Jackson told 
us they occupied the same nest year after year, and added to it or 
repaired it as required. About some that we visited, we found 
brass and bone buttons, bits of crockery, bleached bones, &c. 
Mr. Jackson said if a “ Tottie” lost his knife or tinder-box on 
the farm, or within some miles of the place, he made a point of 
examining the Hammerkops’ nests, and frequently with success ; 
the birds, like the Bower-bird of Australia, embellishing their 
dwellings with any glittering or bright-coloured thing they can pick 
up. In the Karroo, between Worcester and Robertson, we saw a 
nest placed on the ground on the side of a frifling rise: it was at 
least three yards in length, by one and-a-half across, with a small 
entrance hole at one end. 
Mr. Rickard says that at East London, where it is called ‘‘ Podda 
Vanger,” it frequents the rocky beach, and is generally seen in 
pairs: it is also found near Port Elizabeth. Near Kingwilliamstown 
Captain Trevelyan records it as common about the vleys, and he has 
sometimes seen as many as five or six together, but says that this is 
unusual. Mr. T. E. Buckley shot a specimen in the Free State in 
June. In Natal, according to Mr. Ayres, it is spread all over the 
country, but is not numerous, and is always seen singly. They 
frequent the streams of the interior, and the rivers and lakes near 
the coast, and are not very shy. Majors Butler and Feilden and 
Captain Reid state that near Newcastle it was a common bird in 
vleys and along sluggish streams. From the dates at which egos 
were taken they opine that it breeds twice in Natal, in winter and 
summer, if not all the year round. Writing from the Transvaal, 
Mr. Ayres says: “ Mr. Layard’s description of the nidification of 
this species is excellent, and I can add nothing to it except that the 
inside of the nest is neatly plastered with mud, and that either from 
this cause or from the bird’s muddy feet the eggs are often very 
dirty. Not long ago I saw one of these queer birds feeding in a 
shallow ditch ; the water was about halfway up his legs, and he was 
feeling about with his feet in the mud and stones at the bottom, 
very carefully and in a most careful manner, evidently trying to 
worry out a frog or a crab, in which he did not then succeed. These 
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