32 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



the third, fourth, and fifth quills longest. Tail very long, 

 and rounded at the end. Tarsi the length of the middle toe, 

 and entirely reticulated. Toes long and slender, with the 

 outer toe the length of the hind one. The cheeks round ; 

 the eyes and cere entirely denuded of plumes and hairs. 



47. Polyboroid.es Typicus, Smith, in. s. Af. 



^ y * Zoolog. PI. 81, 82 ; Falco Gymnogenys, Tern. ; Oym- 

 nogenys Madagascariensis, Less, 



GENERAL colour rusty pearl- grejr, with a row of large black 

 spots from each shoulder, head crested, and with throat and 

 chest bluish. Flanks, thighs, belly, and vent profusely barred/ 

 black and white ; wing and tail feathers black, and tipt with 

 white, the latter with a broad white bar across the centre ; 

 bare space round the eye, cere and legs light-yellow. Iris 

 dark-brown. Length, 2' 1" ; wing, V 6" ; tail, 12". 



Young birds have much more of the rufous tinge, particularly on 

 the head and crest. Specimens of this curious bird have been pro- 

 cured in various parts of the colony by Mr. Gird, at the Paarl ; Mr. 

 Cairncross, at Swellendam ; and Mr. Atmore, in the George district. 

 Mr. Chapman also found it in the Interior. Mr. Gird observed his 

 specimen beating over a marsh abounding in snipe. The stomach of 

 one I opened contained the remains of lizards. Mr. Gird's bird was 

 probably engaged in the pursuit of frogs. 



Mr. Atmore writes : " Meiring's Poort : Got a fine adult female of 

 P. Typicus. She was full of frogs. This accounts for their sitting 

 so long on stumps, &c., by pools of water. They are very ' getatable/ 

 not at all shy, but scarce." 



Genus SERPENTARIUS, Cuvier. 



Bill moderate, broad and elevated at its base, the culmen 

 much arched to the tip, which is hooked, and the sides much 

 compressed ; the nostrils lateral, with the opening large and 

 oblique. Wings long, with the third, fourth, and fifth quills 

 nearly equal and longest ; armed on the shoulder with an 

 obtuse spur. Tail very long, wedge-shaped, with the two 

 middle feathers prolonged. Tarsi much lengthened, slender, 

 covered in front with transverse scales. Toes very short, with 

 the anterior ones united at their base by a membrane ; the 

 hind toe remarkably short, and rather elevated, and all 

 covered above with transverse scales. The lores and space 

 round the eyes naked. 



