PICID.E CAMPOTHERA 131 



been noticed in Bechuanaland by Exton, whose specimens were 

 named D. striatus by Layard. 



The following are recorded localities : Natal Durban and Pine- 

 town (Brit. Mus.), Maritzburg (Woodward), Echowe (Woodward in 

 S. A. Mus.), St. Lucia Lake (Woodward) ; Transvaal Swaziland 

 (Brit. Mus.), Komatipoort (Francis in S. A. Mus.), Booi Eand in 

 Zoutspansberg (W. Ayres) ; Bechuanaland Kanye (Exton in S. A. 

 Mus.). 



Habits. Mr. Ayres writes as follows regarding the Golden- 

 tailed Woodpecker : " These Woodpeckers are to be found through- 

 out the Colony (of Natal), wherever there is bush-land, singly or in 

 pairs ; their note is loud and harsh ; they are very restless in their 

 habits, constantly hunting for food as if they never obtained a 

 sufficiency ; ants and other insects appear to be their usual food, 

 which they search for and catch on the rough bark of trees ; they 

 also hammer away at dead boughs from which they extract soft 

 grubs ; their flight is heavy and dipping and they are found all the 

 year round. 



" For the purpose of incubation a hole is made in the trunk of a 

 decayed tree, just large enough at the entrance for the bird to enter, 

 but becoming wider inside and reaching downwards to a depth of a 

 foot or eighteen inches ; the eggs are laid on the bare wood and 

 there is no nest." 



A clutch of three eggs taken by Mr. A. D. Millar, at Gillits, near 

 Durban, on October 22 and presented by him to the South African 

 Museum, are shiny white ovals, measuring 0-92 x 0*70. 



438. Campothera smithi. Smith's Woodpecker. 



Picus smithii, Malh. liev. Zool. 1845, p. 403. 



Chrysopicus brucei, Malh. Picidce, ii, p. 170, pi. 93, fig. 1 (1862). 



Ipagrus brucei, Gurney in Andersson's B. Damaraland, p. 221 (1872). 



Campethera smithii, Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 184, 812 

 (1875) ; Oates, Matabeleland, p. 306 (1881) ; Shelley, Ibis, 1882, p. 249 

 [Umfuli river] ; Hargitt, Ibis, 1883, p. 467 ; id. Cat. B. M. xviii, 

 p. 100 (1890) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 131 (1896) ; Alexander, Ibis, 

 1900, p. 427 [Zumbo] . 



Description. Adult male. Closely allied to C. abingdoui; the 

 pale spots, however, of the back are somewhat transversely elongated 

 so as almost to form a series of bars ; below 7 , the throat, breast, 

 and cheeks are black with small white spots, while the ear-coverts 



