BABBETS 35 



Woodpeckers, but is soft and pliable like that of 

 Passerine birds. 



The Wryneck nests in holes in trees, laying elongated 

 white eggs. 



BARBETS. 



The members of the family Capitonidce have stout 

 and strong bills, thereby differing from the Woodpeckers, 

 which have a longer, thinner type of beak. 



They hew holes in trees and lay white eggs like the 

 Woodpeckers, but have not stiff and spiny-like tail- 

 feathers. 



The Black-collared Barbet (Lybius torquatus) is per- 

 haps the largest member of the family. It is brown 

 above with yellow spots ; head and throat scarlet ; back 

 of head, a collar round the neck, and upper breast black. 

 Below, yellow marked with greyish-black blotches and 

 streaks. 



Its range extends from Grahamstown (where it is 

 not uncommon) to the Zambesi Valley. 



Although an insect-feeder it will occasionally eat fruit. 

 We took its eggs in the neighbourhood of Grahamstown 

 and at Modderfontein, Transvaal. 



The commonest of the South African species is the 

 Pied Barbet (Tricholcema leucomelas), which is also pretty 

 generally distributed excepting in Mashonaland and Natal. 



It is smaller than the preceding bird, has the crown 

 red and the plumage black spotted with yellow ; throat 

 black and rest of under surface whitish. This bird has 

 a conspicuous eyebrow and a black streak through the 

 eye, below which is a broad white stripe. 



It is exceedingly common at Aliwal North, Cape 

 Colony, where it frequents the gardens and scrub on 



