248 Letters, Announcements , ^c. 



obliged to help them to bring up their young." This strikes me 

 as being a good hint for those who are rearing valuable birds. -^ 



I have to chronicle the arrival of another bird within SouthA 

 African limits. At the end of last month I visited Robbin 

 Island, in the mouth of Table Bay, and for the first time saw a 

 lovely little Tern, which I refer to Sternula bal^narum, 

 Strickl. (Contr. Orn. 1852, p. 160), already received through 

 Mr. Andersson, from Walvisch Bay. Out of the four speci- 

 mens seen, we obtained three. Yesterday, while returning from 

 the mail -steamer, I again saw this diminutive Tern sitting on 

 the anchor-buoys in the roadstead. 



A strange mistake has crept into my ' Catalogue,' owing to 

 the disjointed manner in which it was written, and to the wrong 

 identification of a species. Another bird has been mistaken for 

 Laniarius icterus (no. 324). A real example of this noble 

 Bush- Shrike has been sent by Mr. H. Bowker from the forests of 

 Kwelegha, near Kingwilliams-town. He writes : — " They are 

 common in some parts, and make a curious noise, something 

 like the word * mope,' drawn out into a long, low whistle. I 

 have some doubts in asserting that the bird calls day and night, 

 as I think there are two species of them. They are known among 

 the Dutch farmers by the name of ' Spoke-vogel ' (i. e. ghost- 

 bird) ; and the low call of the bird during the night certainly 

 would lead a person inclined to superstition to think that there 

 was something supernatural in it." 



This is the first time this species has been found in South 

 Africa. Swainson's bird, figured (badly by the"; way) in the 

 'Birds of West Africa' (vol. ii. p. 137, pi. 22), was from 

 West Africa ; and the original of Le Vaillant's much better figure 

 came from Senegal. The description, and so forth, in my 

 * Catalogue ' should be referred to the previous species, L. 

 ruhiginosus. 



Here I must close for the present, but at some future time 

 shall send you another budget. I trust I may have succeeded 

 in awakening an interest in our South-African birds in some of 

 your readers, and that the information I send may not be unac- 

 ceptable to them. Yours very truly, 



E. L. Layard. 



