164 Notes on Mr. Layard^s 'Birds of South Africa.' 



however, it may be distinguished by its rich gloss, and by being 

 slightly smaller and more elliptical. 



495. Chalcites smaragdineus (Swains.). Emerald Cuckoo. 



Mr. Layard, under the head of this species, remarks that "all 

 the Cuckoos of South Africa appear to be migratory, the ma- 

 jority of them making their appearence in the colony about 

 October or November; some a little later.^^ A question na- 

 turally arises as to how far northwards the South-African 

 Cuckoos migrate to pass those months during which they are 

 absent from their southern haunts. In connexion with this 

 inquiry, I may quote the statement of Dr. H. Dohrn (P. Z. S. 

 1866, p. 329), that this species is found on Prince's Island, in 

 the Gulf of Guinea, from the month of April to that of Sep- 

 tember. 



502. Tberon DELALANDiT, Bonap. Delalande's Tree-Pigeon. 



As Mr. Layard only cites Kaffraria as a locality for this 

 species, I may mention that Mr. Ayres has sent it to me from 

 Natal (Ibis, 1862, p. 33), and informs me that he has also met 

 with it in the Transvaal. 



505. CoLUMBA TRiGONiGERA, Wagl. Roussard-Pigcon. 



This Pigeon, which Mr. Layard considers to be identical with 

 its more northern congener, C. guinea, Linn., was treated by 

 Bonaparte (Consp. Av. ii. p. 50) as a distinct species, and, as I 

 think, with sufficient reason, the wings in C. trigonigera being 

 an inch longer than in C. guinea, the triangular white spots on 

 the upper wing-coverts smaller, and the colouring on the rump 

 decidedly darker. 



513. Peristera afra (Linn.). Bronze-spotted Dove. 



Vierthaler (Naumannia, 1852, pt. i. p. 48) mentions a n.est 

 of this Dove (under the synonym of P. chalcospilus) which he 

 found in Sennaar, consisting of a few twigs placed in "the 

 hollow of a broken-oflf stem " about five feet high, on which was 

 deposited " a yellowish-white " egg. A notice of the occurrence 

 of this species in Natal will be found in the present volume 

 (p. 48). 



[To be continued.] 



