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NATURE [March 29. 1900 



THE BIRDS OF AFRICA} 



THE appearance of the first volume of the history of 

 its fauna at a time when all our attention is con- 

 centrated on South Africa is doubtless in a great degree 

 accidental, although nevertheless opportune, if only as a 

 reminder that, when the present period of stress and 

 anxiety has passed away, there are matters other than 

 war and armaments demanding our attention in that 

 part of the globe. It was a fortunate circumstance that 

 the editor of the series— Mr. W. L. Sclater— was able to 

 secure for his first volume the valuable services of a local 

 ornithologist, well acquainted, not only with the birds 

 themselves, but likewise with their habits and the locali- 

 ties they frequent. Unhappily, the labours in this world 

 of Mr. Stark are ended for ever, his career having been 

 terminated, as he stood at the door of his own house in 

 Ladysmith, by the fragment of a shell which struck him 

 dead almost on the spot. It is said that his last words 

 were " Take care of my Cat.," doubtless referring to the 

 present volume and its successor, of which latter we 

 believe we are right in saying that the MS. was complete 

 at the time of the author's death. 



The fact that Mr. Stark's last thoughts were for the 

 safety of the scientific labours on which he had expended 

 so much time and care confers a pathetic interest on the 

 appearance of the volume before us, and should go far to 

 disarm hostile criticism, were such otherwise called for. 

 Fortunately, however, under no circumstance would there 

 apparently be much, if any, room for unfavourable com- 

 ments, as the execution of the work seems, from all 

 points of view, excellent and praiseworthy. 



As stated in the editorial preface, the series, of which 

 the present volume forms the first instalment, is intended 

 to deal with the fauna of that portion of Africa lying to the 

 southward of the Zambesi and Cunene Rivers ; and there- 

 fore includes, not only the very peculiar and restricted 

 assemblage of animals characteristic of Cape Colony and 

 the other districts south of the Orange River, but likewise 

 embraces a large stretch of country whose animals have 

 a wider geographical range. The present volume treats 

 of about one-half the total number of Passerine birds met 

 with in the area under consideration. It is satisfactory 

 to find that in the treatment of his subject the author has 

 seen fit to follow, so far as practicable, the plan of 

 arrangement and description adopted by Mr. Gates in 

 his contribution to the "Fauna of British India," under 

 the editorship of Mr. Blanford. 



Accordingly we have, so far as the present volume and 

 its successor are concerned, the great advantage of having 

 the faunas of the two great old-world dependencies of the 

 British Empire described on a similar plan, so that they 

 are readily comparable with one another. And how ex- 

 traordinarily different is the avian fauna of South Africa 

 — especially as regards its host of peculiar generic types 

 —from that of Peninsular India, can be ascertained at a 

 glance by comparing the systematic index in Mr. Oates' 

 volumes with that in the one now before us. 



And yet, in spite of this great general faunistic 

 difference, there are in birds, as in mammals, a certain 

 number not only of generic, but likewise of specific types 

 common to the two areas. A case in point is afforded by 

 the Spotted Creeper {Salpornis spilonotus), the African 

 and Indian forms of which are regarded by the author as 

 worthy only of subspecific distinction. And we are glad 

 to notice that, not only does the author give an unqualified 

 adherence to the manifold advantages offered by trinomial 

 nomenclature, but that he has not been frightened by the 

 bugbear of "absence of connecting links" out of regarding 

 closely allied, but widely separated, forms as local races. 

 Consequently we have the African representative of the 



1 ■' The Fauna of South Africa. Birds." Vol. i. By A. C. Stark, M.B. 

 Pp.^ xxx 4-322, illustrated. (London : R. H. Porter, 1900.) 



"The Birds of Africa, compiising all the Species which occur in the 

 Ethiopian Region." By G. K. Shelley. Vol. i. 1896. Vol. li. Part i. 

 (London: R. H. Porter, 1900.) 



NO. 1587, VOL. 61] 



Spotted Creeper appearing as Salpornis spilonatus sal- 

 vadorii, while the Indian form would be distinguished as 

 typicus. 



As legards the general scheme of classification for the 

 "orders," the author adopts the one proposed by Dr. 

 P. L. Sclater in 1880 ; and although there are doubtless 

 some respects in which this scheme is susceptible of 

 emendation, it is a very workable one, and has the great 

 merit of simplicity. 



A somewhat instructive parallel may be drawn between 

 the avian and mammalian faunas of South Africa. Atten- 

 tion has been already drawn to the large number of 

 genera of birds peculiar to Africa, notable examples 

 occurring in the families of the Starlings {S/urtiidae) and 

 Weaver- Birds {Ploceidae) ; and these may be regarded as 

 the analogues of the many genera of Antelopes likewise 

 characteristic of the country. But the parallelism by no 

 means stops here. Many of the species of the Antelopes 

 (as well as other mammals) are restricted to the area south 

 of the Orange River, but are represented by kindred 

 types in the districts to the northward of that river. 

 Among .the Passerines we may notice the Red-shouldered 

 Glossy Starling {La7nprocolius phaenicoptcriis)^ the Cape 

 Weaver-Bird {Sitagra capensis), the Cape Long-tailed 

 Sugar-Bird {Promerops ca/cr), and the Cape Sun- Bird 

 {Cinnyris chalybeus), as well-known species exclusively 

 confined to the Cape, but represented in Natal or in 

 districts still further north by allied species or subspecies, 

 precisely in the same manner as are Antelopes. Evidently, 

 therefore, we have to deal with some deep-seated cause 

 which has modified a large portion of the Cape fauna ; 

 but the exact nature of this cause has yet to be worked 

 out. 



So far as we have had an opportunity of testing them, 

 Mr. Stark's diagnoses and "keys" to the various genera 

 and species he describes are all that the most exacting 

 ornithologist can desire. But the work is very imper- 

 fectly described, as in the lamented author's last words, 

 as a mere " Catalogue." On the contrary, it contains 

 some delightful and interesting descriptions of the habits 

 and mode of life of African birds, of which we know far 

 too little. Witness, for instance, the author's description 

 of the " showing-ofF" of the male of the Cape Long-tailed 

 Sngar-Bird,i the illustration of which we are enabled by 

 the courtesy of the publisher to reproduce. " Towards 

 the end of April or beginning of May," he writes, " the 

 males, when not feeding, fighting, or chasing one another 

 with shrill cries, may be usually seen perched on the 

 summit of some prominent bush or young pine-tree, their 

 long, flexible and curved central tail-feathers blowing 

 about in the wind, often in a reversed curve over the bird's 

 head. At intervals one of them will mount twenty or 

 thirty feet in the air, incline his body backwards, violently 

 jerk his tail up and down, and at the same time rustle the 

 feathers together, and bring his wings with sharp, re- 

 sounding ' claps ' against his sides, before returning to 

 his perch to indulge in an outburst of song. Occasionally 

 a male may be seen to throw the longer tail-feathers into 

 a double curve. At the same season the hens amuse 

 themselves by flying round and round in a small circle." 



Special attention has been devoted to nidification, and 

 the illustration on page 76, in which the nests of three 

 species of Weaver- Birds are shown in a single tree, is 

 highly noteworthy. Still more remarkable are the three 

 enormous dome-shaped nests of the Sociable Weaver- 

 Bird depicted in the photogravure on page 117. Before 

 dismissing the subject of illustrations, it may be mentioned 

 that these are in the main restricted to the head and 

 wing, which afford the best diagnostic features of the 

 species described. The mere fact that they were drawn 

 by Mr. Gronvold is a sufficient guarantee of the excellence 

 of their execution. 



1 The only error we have hitherto noticed in the book is that this illustra- 

 tion is lettered Promerops capcnsis instead of P. cafer. 



