38 FRIENDS OF THE AGRICULTURIST 



Mr. Sclater (" Fauna of South Africa : Birds," vol. iii.) 

 says that an example in the South African Museum from 

 Swellendam agrees in every respect with another from 

 Mombasa in British East Africa. Dr. Gunning has 

 recently kindly permitted me to examine the fine series 

 of skins of Centropus burchelli and G. superciliosus in 

 the Transvaal Museum, and we have not the slightest 

 hesitation in including the latter bird in the avifauna 

 of the sub-continent. 



Both birds have much the same geographical range, 

 being found throughout the country in most of the Bush 

 regions. 



The Vlei Louries as the name implies are fond of 

 haunting the bush along rivers and vleis, where they may 

 be found singly or in pairs, creeping about on the ground 

 among the undergrowth. They live principally upon 

 locusts, caterpillars and other insects, thus rendering 

 good service to the farming community. 



The nest is domed with an opening on one side, and 

 is constructed of sticks ; it is usually placed in a thick 

 bush not far from the ground. The eggs, three to five 

 in number, are rather rounded in shape and pure white 

 in colour. We give an illustration of C. superciliosus at its 

 nest (PL xix.), originally published in the Ibis for 1901 

 and wrongly ascribed to burchelli. The distinct eyebrow 

 characteristic of the former is very plainly seen in the 

 photograph. 



The Green Coucal (Ceuthmochares australis) is easily 

 distinguishable from all the other species by its green 

 colour. It extends along the east coast from British 

 East Africa to Natal ; it is not uncommon in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Durban, whence A. D. Millar records it as 

 breeding in November. 



