CORVULTUR ALBICOLLIS 137 



and tufts of grass, and is lined with rootlets, wool, hair, grass 

 and various soft materials. The eggs, almost invariably three 

 in number, vary considerably in colour and shape, even in the 

 same nest ; they are of some shade of bluish- white, more or 

 less thickly marked with various shades of olive-brown, and 

 are not to be distinguished with certainty from eggs of the 

 European Eavcn {Curviis corax). They average -I'O^ x r;3"2. 



" The same nest is occupied year after year. In the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Town the eggs are usually laid in 

 August." 



In Layard's time, according to his notes, it might be 

 " frequently seen about Table Mountain, descending from 

 thence to the shores of the ba}' in the morning, and returning 

 at night, but always Hying at a great height over the town." 

 I saw it occasionally in Cape Colony, but more frequently in 

 Natal. In Poudoland, Mr. Bhortridge called it " a verj' 

 common resident, generally seen by day in pairs, which gather 

 together in Hocks towards the evening and roost among the 

 rocks." Major Sparrow writes : " The clutch is usually live, 

 not three, eggs. In the Orange River Colony and Natal I 

 have found that it lays in August." 



At the Zambesi Mr. Boyd Alexander found these Ravens 

 in pairs, but by no means common, and remarks : " Unlike 

 Corviis scapidafus, it is a resident about the Zambesi, while in 

 whatever locality it was seen the latter species was absent." 



Throughout East Africa, from the Zambesi to the Equator, 

 it is apparently fairly abundant, varying in numbers accord- 

 ing to the food supply of the locality. In British Central 

 Africa Sir Harry Johnston informs us that it " is extremely 

 common in all the hill country," and further remarks: "It 

 carries oli all small ducks and chickens within its reach." 



Bohn met with these Ravens on both sides of Lake 

 Tangan}'ika, and according to Stuhlmann it is known to the 



