26 BUPHAGA AFRICANA 



the parasites thereon, they seem also very partial to the 

 lacrymal secretions of these animals." Mr. Budgett also calls 

 it common on McCarthy Island. It has not been recorded 

 from the country between Senegambia and the Niger, but 

 this may be accounted for by the scarcity of cattle and the 

 forest character of these parts, for it is not uncommon in the 

 Niger and White Nile districts. Following its range south- 

 ward, it has been procured by Marche and De Compiegne in 

 Gaboon, Toulson obtained it in Angola, and according to 

 Monteiro the species is " abundant all over Angola, which, 

 generally speaking, abounds in cattle." Monteiro's specimen 

 came from the neighbourhood of the town of Benguela, and 

 his Angola possibly refers to that country, where it has been 

 obtained by Anchieta at several places, and according to his 

 notes is known at Benguela and Capangombe as the "Loando." 

 In Damaraland these Starlings are rare, and I cannot trace 

 their range further south in Western Africa. 



From Zululand and Central Natal northward, it is fairly 

 plentiful. In Zululand the Messrs. Woodward found this 

 species much rarer than B. crijfJirorJujncha, only meeting 

 with it in the Umbegamusa district, which lies between the 

 Black and White Ilmfulosi Rivers. E. C. Buxton writes 

 from Suariland, a little to the north of Natal : " The two 

 Buphagas I shot at the same time on some oxen, one of 

 each off the same cow, and I could not distinguish them on 

 the wing. There were several shot at the time, and in the 

 proportion of one of the red-billed birds to two of the others." 



Buckley writes : " Common in the Transvaal right up 

 into the Matabele country. This bird is a great nuisance 

 at times to cattle, from its habit of pecking holes in them ; 

 they run over a bullock as easily as a Woodpecker on a tree, 

 picking out the ticks which infest them. Over a bullock's 

 back you may see three or four of these birds' heads 



