48 COSMOPSARUS 



Phillips, who wrote : " Only met with in flocks ou two or 

 three occasions. They were very shy, and flew at a consider- 

 able height, frequently uttering their peculiar cry, which 

 consists of a single whistling note. Native name ' Bhimbcr 

 Arnot ' (Sheep-bird). They are said to be common in the 

 Gudabirsi country to the west." It has been obtained by 

 Captain A. E. Hamerton, at Bera, May 4, 1003, and he records 

 the iris as " crimson." Erlanger found the species breeding 

 in colonies, on April 8, 1901, near the source of the Dau 

 Eiver, in a bush-country interspersed with fine acacia trees 

 and ant-hills. In these latter hard sandy masses, often six 

 metres in height, the birds placed their nests in holes fi'om 

 4 to 8 inches deep by 2J wide, and constructed them of green 

 grass-stalks and the still greener leaves of a kind of clover. 

 The eggs, three to four in number, are described as like those 

 of our Blackbird, and measured I'S X O'B to 0'92 X 0-78, in 

 a series of thirteen examples he brought home. His collection 

 of skins contained specimens from several places along the 

 rivers and from Kismaju on the coast. 



Genus V. COSMOPSARUS. 



Bill black of moderate size, somewhat Tbrusb-like ; nasal orifice exposed 

 at the end of a short groove. Wings long and pointed, shorter than the 

 tail; third primary longest or equal in length to the second and fourth. 

 Tail long and strongly graduated, with the feathers narrow, the centre ones 

 less than 05 inch broad towards their ends. Legs rather long, with the 

 tarsi, feet and claws black. 



Tijpe. 



Cosmopsarus, Reichen. Orn. Centralbl. 1879, p. 108 . . . . C. regins. 



The genus is confined to Eastern Africa and comprises two species. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



o. Breast yellow ; upper parts steel blue with a little green . . . regia. 

 J). Uniform ashy brown with a green gloss unicolor. 



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