( 163 ) 



AVES, 



I DID not succeed in finding an undescribed bird in the dis- 

 trict of Pretoria, nor did I much expect to do so. The bare 

 plains of the high veld support no rich avifauna, whilst the 

 neighbouring districts of Lydenburg, Potchefstroom, the road 

 to the Limpopo and the banks of that river had already been 

 worked by those excellent field-ornithologists, Mr. Thomas 

 Ayres * and Mr. E. A. Barratt f. Moreover, the high lands 

 of Natal around Newcastle, which form part of the same 

 area as that which comprises the Southern Transvaal, have been 

 visited by Majors E. A. Butler and H. W. Feilden and Capt. 

 S. G. Keid J. 



Immediately around Pretoria the Accipitres are always en 

 evidence. The Common Vulture, Gyps kolbii, as scavenger, 

 continuously patrols the air, and settles in flocks as the carcass 

 of some dead ox is sighted (see ante, pp. 69, 70). The Rufous 

 Buzzard (Buteo desertorum) is a terror to the poultry-breeders 

 around the town, and next to the Vulture is the most abundant 

 in this order of birds. Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus] is 

 not at all uncommon, but does not venture, as a rule, within a 

 few miles of the town, and is difficult of approach. The Jackal 

 Buzzard (Buteo jakal) is also very scarce in the district; I only 

 procured it myself among the wooded lowlands of Zout- 

 pansberg. My greatest acquisition was a specimen of Wahl- 

 berg's Eagle (Aquila wahlbergi], obtained a very few miles 

 outside the town of Pretoria, a spot where the Black-shouldered 

 Kite (Elanus cteruleus) could be generally seen flying or 

 hovering high in the air, and seldom in reach of the gun. 

 Several species of Kestrels were very abundant, usually fre- 



* 'Ibis,' 1869, 1871, 1873, 1876-80. 

 t < Ibis,' 1876. 



t Zoologist,' 1882. 



M2 



