CHATS 19 



centre ones, white (this is the plumage of the female 

 throughout) to grey, and greyish- white with white 

 shoulders. 



It is a common bird in the dryer portions of South 

 Africa, from the Middle and Western Cape Colony north- 

 wards. 



It is a lover of rocky localities, being found in the 

 dreariest of places. 



It nests under rocks or on a ledge of a bank, and lays 

 pale blue-green eggs, which are sometimes plain and 

 sometimes speckled with reddish-purple. 



The Capped Wheatear (S. pileata) is the Schaap- 

 wachter (Shepherd) of the Dutch. It resembles the 

 Buff-streaked Chat at first sight, but can easily be 

 recognised by its rufous-brown back and broad black 

 chest-band. t - 



It is a tame, confiding bird and is fond of the neigh- 

 bourhood of buildings and kraals. It differs from the 

 Buff-streaked Chat in habits in preferring flat open 

 stretches to more mountainous regions. It builds a 

 flat, saucer-shaped nest of hair and grass in a hole, and 

 lays eggs of a pale greeny-white colour. 



This is a fairly common bird in the Brandfort district, 

 Orange River Colony, and also at Springfontein. 



The Familiar Chat (S. familiaris), the Spekvreter 

 (Bacon-eater) of the Boers, is reddish-brown above, and 

 buffish below. It is fairly well distributed throughout 

 South Africa. It builds a nest of grass, wool and hair, 

 under a stone or in a hole in a wall, during the months 

 of November and December, and lays three eggs of a 

 bright blue, speckled, in the form of a zone round the 

 blunt end, with rusty-brown. 



