94 DENIZENS OF THE FOREST 



certain wing feathers, &c., which are tipped with white 

 It is found from the Eastern Cape Colony northwards to 

 Mashonaland, and thence Westward to Ngami, Damara- 

 land and Benguela. 



The Black Tit is a noisy little fellow, whose call is a 

 deep churr-churr-churr. Its food consists exclusively of 

 insects. It nests in small holes in trees, the nest being 

 composed of a few feathers, bits of moss, and cast snake 

 sloughs. This bird is a favourite host of the Honey- 

 guides. 



The Tits usually nest in holes in trees, occasionally 

 in cavities in rocks, laying white eggs sparsely marked 

 with pale red. 



SHRIKES. 



The Shrikes (Family Laniida) are well represented in 

 South Africa by three sub-families, with eleven genera. 



The handsomest member of the family is perhaps the 

 Long-tailed Shrike (Urolestes melanoleucus) , in its garb 

 of glossy black and pure white, and very long tail. 



They are common in the Transvaal Bushveld, doing 

 a great deal of good by devouring locusts, grasshoppers 

 and other insect-life. They build a large rough cup- 

 shaped nest in a bush, and lay three or four eggs, 

 generally of a creamy-pink marked with dots and streaks 

 of various shades of brown and grey. 



The commonest and most widely distributed member 

 of the family is the ordinary Fiskal (Lanius collaris) 

 whose shambles is a well-known sight to every South 

 African. One may chance upon a mimosa tree which 

 has been used by one of these birds as a larder, and find 

 impaled on its long thorns grasshoppers, lizards, &c. ; 



