72 LAMPROTORXIS PIICENICOPTERUS 



Layard found it to be abundant throughout the eastern 

 part of Cape Colon}' ; but according to Atniore, it is not 

 met with to the west of the Ganitoos River, wliere Levaillant 

 observed it in immense flocks. Bradshaw remarks that it 

 is abundant at the Orange Eiver ; and when I was in Natal, 

 in the months of February and March, I found the species 

 plentiful in the open countr\- between Durban and Pinetown, 

 always in flocks of twelve to twenty perched on the tops of 

 the small trees, and were shy and active. Stark writes : " In 

 spring the winter flocks separate into pairs, which distribute 

 themselves through the bush in search of a convenient hole 

 in which to place their nest. Usuallj' they make use of a 

 natural hole or cavity in a tree-trunk, but sometimes take 

 possession of one dug by a Woodpecker after driving away 

 the rightful owners. Not unfrequently the}' Iniild under the 

 eaves of a barn or house ; and Mr. Barratt remarks that on 

 his farm, on the Chalumna, British Kaffraria, they ' frequented 

 the barns and buildings, continually flying to and fro, like 

 English Starlings.' The nest holes are thickly lined with 

 dry grass, feathers and hairs, on which four or five eggs 

 are laid. These are usually somewhat elongated in shape, 

 of a pale bluish green ground colour, sparingly spotted with 

 pale reddish brown. They average about 1"1 x 0'8." He 

 separates the species into a large and small subspecies, and 

 remarks that these races are alike in their habits. 



Mr. T. Ayres writes from Natal : " I have known a pair 

 of these birds take possession of a ^Yoodpccker's nest, destroy- 

 ing the eggs and laying their own instead, which the Wood- 

 peckers seemed to submit to rather tamely. They feed almost 

 entirely on fruits and "berries, and are destructive to our 

 mulberries and other small fruits. They sometimes hop 

 about and feed on the ground, like the Thrush and Blackbird 

 in England." 



