Mr. Layard's ' Birds of South Africa: 161 



of the most useful bii'ds of Natal, its food consisting entirely 

 oi Acari or ticks, which it picks from the cattle ; but Sir Samuel 

 Baker, in his recent work {' The Albert N^yanza Great Basin of 

 the Nile '), does not give the Buphaga so good a character. After 

 describing a bird which is evidently either the pi-esent species or 

 its near ally B. africana, Linn., he says (vol. i. p. 107) : — " It is 

 a perfect pest to the animals, and positively eats them into holes. 

 The original object of the bird in settling upon the animal is to 

 search for vermin ; but it is not contented with the mere insects, 

 and industriously pecks holes in all parts of the animal, more 

 especially on the back. I was obliged to hire little boys to 

 watch the donkeys, and to drive off these plagues; but so deter- 

 mined and bold were these birds, that I have constantly seen 

 them run under the body of the donkey, clinging to the belly 

 with their feet, and thus retreating to the opposite side of the 

 animals when chased by the watch-boys. In a few days my ani- 

 mals were full of wounds, excepting the horses, whose long tails 

 were effectual whisks." And again (vol. i. p. 343): — "I have 

 now only fourteen donkeys ; these are in good condition, and 

 would thrive, were not the birds so destructive by pecking sores 

 upon their backs. These sores would heal quickly by the appli- 

 cation of gunpowder, but the birds irritate and enlarge them 

 until the animal is rendered useless, I have lost two animals 

 simply from the attacks of these birds"*. 



355. 1 Hyphantornis olivaceus (Hahn). Cape Weaver- 



;:} 



I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Hartlaub for the fol- 

 lowing statement of the intricate synonymy of this species : — 



"Icterus olivaceus, Hahn, Vogel aus Asien, &c. Liefer. 6 

 (1822),fig.4(/^.o;>/.). 



" ? Oriolus capensis, Gmel., S. N., p. 392 ; PI. Enl. 607, fig. 2 



" Icterus caffer, Licht., Verz. Doubl. (1823), p. 19. nos. 186, 

 187 (c?,$). 



" Ploceus abyssinicus, Cuv. ; Less., Tr. d'Orn. (1830), p. 434. 



* [We have to mention our obligations to Dr. Ewing for calling our at- 

 tention to these interesting passages. — Ed.] 



