254 Mr. H. W. James on the [Ibis, 



XIV. — Notes on the Nest and Eggs of Stenostira 

 scita ( Vieill.). By H. W. James. 



I HAVK not mot witli any other collector in South Africa 

 who has found the nest and eggs of the Fairy Flycatcher ; 

 neither, so far as I am aware, have the nest and eggs ever 

 been described. 



The nest is a rare one, not on account of: the rarity of the 

 bird, but from the careful and clever way in which it is 

 concealed. In the Cradock and Tarkastad districts of Cape 

 Colony this beautiful little bird is by no means rare. Its 

 favourite haunt is the scrub on the banks of the Fish, Tarka, 

 and VIekpoort rivers. I have lived and collected along 

 those rivers for the last fifteen jears, and, although I have 

 always been on the look-out for nests of this species, I only 

 succeeded in finding six in that time. Unless one sees the 

 bird carrying nesting material, the chances of finding a nest 

 are very small. 



My first nest I found quite by accident. Mousebirds, 



Colius colius (Linn.) and Colius indicus (Lath.), had been 



taking such heavy toll of my fruit that I decided to lessen 



their numbers, and at the same time provide food for a pair 



of tame Kestrels. The first Mousebird I shot fell into the 



centre of a thick " wolvedoorn " hedge. The only way to 



retrieve it was by lying flat down and wriggling my way 



in towards the centre of the hedge — the " wolvedoorn " is a 



prickly, dense-growing shrub, making this no easy matter. 



On reaching the centre of the bush I was able to kneel up, 



and, to my surprise and, 1 may add, pleasure, found, a few 



inches from my face, a nest of StenostWa scita, cleverly 



hidden amon<>;st the dead overhano'ino: branches and contain- 

 ed o rt 



ing two eggs. 



I crept out again and tried to locate the nest from outside, 

 but although I knew exactly where it was I failed to see it. 



All the time I was near the nest the little owners kept up 

 an incessant chattering, and often came within a few inches 

 of my head. 



I found two more nests in subsequent years in the same 



