252 FISCUS SMITHI 
A nest found on October 11, near Pinetown in Natal, was 
placed about 12 ft. above the ground in a bush standing near 
some green trees; it was wedged in between two upright 
branches, two or three small twigs being built into the sides ; 
the nest was loosely constructed on the outside, and was 
almost entirely composed of the “ Kaffir tea plant”; towards 
the cavity the construction was more compact and a few 
feathers had been worked in; the cavity, which measured 
about 3 in. across and 2} in. deep, was lined with a few 
feathers, a little dry grass, and some very fine rootlets. The 
egos are usually four in number, the colour is very pale green 
spotted with pale brown, with usually a ring of heavy blotches 
of brownish-purple surrounding the egg towards its obtuser 
end; measurements vary from 1'0 X 0°70 to 0°92 X 0°75. 
There is a very large series of this species in the British 
Museum from the following localities: Abyssinia (Blanford, 
Jesse, Lovat, Degen, and Zaphiro); British East Africa from 
the Mau Escarpment to Kilimanjaro (Jackson, Delamere, and 
Johnston); Uganda (Jackson) ; British Central Africa (John- 
ston and Sharpe); Gazaland (Swynnerton); Natal, from 
Durban to Newcastle (Oates, Buckley, and Butler). 
Fiscus smithi. 
Collurio smithi, Fraser, P. Z. S. 1843, p. 16 Cape Coast Castle. 
Lanius smithi, Gadow, Cat. B. M. viii. p. 258 (1883); Ogilvie-Grant, 
Noy. Zool. ix. p. 467 (1902). 
Fiscus smithi, Shelley, B. Afr. i. No. 695 (1896); Kemp, Ibis, 1905, 
p. 233, Szerra Leone. 
Lanius humeralis smithi, Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. p. 610 (1903). 
Lanius collaris smithi, Schiebel, J. f. O. 1906, p. 187. 
Lanius humeralis congicus, Reichen. J. f. O. 1902, p. 258 Angola ; id. 
Vog. Afr. ii. p. 610 (1903) ; Reichen. Deutsch. Zentr. Afr. Exped. 
iii. p. 314. 
Lanius collaris congicus, Schiebel, J. f. O. 1906, p. 186. 
Subspecies a, Fiscus cameruniensis. 
Lanius humeralis cameruniensis, Reichen. Orn. Monatsb. 1910, p. 191 
Adamawa ; id. Mittl. Zool. Mus. Berl. v. p. 223 (1911). 
