190 ZOSTEROPS POLIOGASTRA. 



much reminded me of groups of Goldcrests I had previously 

 seen at home, at Avington, where they have greatly decreased 

 of late years. The White-eyes appeared to me to be equally 

 abundant near Durban, but probably I confounded Z. virens 

 with the present species, as they closely resemble one another 

 at a little distance, their backs being the part most exposed 

 to view as they cling on, or flutter round, the sunny edges of 

 the woodlands. 



Mr. Layard writes : — " The White-eye is common through- 

 out the whole of the Colony, roaming about in small families 

 of from five to twenty in number. During the fruit season 

 they do great damage to the apricots, peaches, plums, &c. ; 

 they also destroy the buds to get at the insects that lurk 

 therein. While on the wing, or feeding, they utter incessantly 

 a stridulous chirp, which is generally the first thing that 

 reveals their presence. We never saw them on the ground, 

 but they sometimes creep about low bushes. They place 

 their nests, which they conceal with great care, in a fork 

 caused by the union of several small twigs. It is composed 

 of moss and fibres, covered with cobweb and lichens, and 

 lined with hair, and is shaped like a cup about three inches 

 across by two and a half deep. The eggs, five in number, 

 are of a beautiful spotless blue, rather sharp at the ends." 

 According to Stark :—" The eggs, four or five in number, are 

 unspotted pale blue. They measure - 66 X - 50. Both 

 parents incubate the eggs, which are hatched at the end of 

 ten days. The nestlings are fed on soft larva?, small cater- 

 pillars and the saccharine juices of flowers by both male and 

 female." 



Zosterops poliogastra. 



Zosterops poliogastra, Heugl. Sharpe, Cat. B. M. ix. p. 169 (1884) ; 

 Salvad. Ann. Mus. Genov. 1884, p. 141 ; 1888, p. 249 ; Gigl. t. c. 



