LUSCINIDJS. 113 



used by the members of our household. The entrances to these nests 

 were very small and tortuous, leading to the back of the brick-work, 

 which we had to remove before we could secure the eggs. The nests 

 were large masses of dried bents of grass and feathers. I frequently 

 saw this species on my journey from Nel's Poort to the Swartberg, 

 creeping about the sides of dry water- courses, clinging to the perpen- 

 dicular banks, and apparently searching for spiders. 



210. Parus Cinerascens^ vieii.; Parus A/er, 



Gmel. ; Le Messange Grizette, Le Vail.,- PI. 138. 



UPPER parts of back, breast, and belly, dark blue- grey ; 

 wings brownish- black, variegated with white, most thickly 

 on the shoulders ; tail black ; the outer lateral feathers being 

 bordered with white ; top of the head, throat, and chest, 

 black ; a white patch extends from the corner of the bill, 

 under the eye, and down the neck, dividing the black of the 

 head from that of the chest. In the female, these parts are 

 speckled with white. Length, 5J". 



Le Vaillant found this species in the mimosa forests of Camdeboo. 

 JNTon vidi. 



211. ParUS LeUCOpterUS, Swain. ; Le Mtsange 

 Noir, Le Vail., PL 137, fig. 2 ; Parus Niger, Vieil. ; 

 Pentherus Niger, Cab. ; Melaniparus Niger, Bp. ; 

 Cuv. Vol. 2, p. 123. 



GENERAL colour, black ; below much tinged with brown ; a 

 broad white bar commences on the shoulder, and extends 

 down the wing, becoming narrower towards the point ; 

 lateral tail-feathers slightly edged with white. Length, 

 3" 9'" ; wing, 4" ; tail, 3". 



Le Vaillant found this species in the Eastern districts of the colony ; 

 he says it retires for the night into holes of trees, where it also breeds, 

 laying six or eight pure white eggs. I have received it from Kuruman, 

 Beaufort, and Damaraland. 



Genus PAROIDES, Kocb. 



Bill moderate and slender, with the culm en straight, or 

 slightly curved to the tip, which is entire and acute, the 

 sides compressed ; the gonys.long and ascending ; the nostrils 

 basal and lateral, with the opening entirely hidden by the 

 projecting frontal plumes ; wings rather short, with the first 

 quill very short, and the second nearly as long as the third 

 or fourth, which are equal and longest ; tail moderate, 

 and forked, or lengthened and graduated ; tarsi as long as 

 the middle toe, and broadly scaled in front ; toes moderate, 

 o 



