BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



271. Platysteira Strepitans, Licht. ; Le 



Le Vail, PL 161 ; Mus. Pririt, Vieill. ; Mus. Strepi- 

 tans, Licht. 



THIS bird is closely allied to the preceding (Le Molenar) in 

 shape and general appearance ; it is, however, differently 

 coloured. In the male, the upper parts are all grisly, 

 variegated with white ; the sides of the head, tail, shoulders, 

 and breast are black ; throat and chin pure white ,* belly 

 variegated with black and white. In the female, the upper 

 parts are lighter, and the under parts rufous. Length, 4i" : 

 wing, 2" 2'" ; tail, 1" 5'". 



I have received this bird from Beaufort, where it was discovered by 

 the son of my valued correspondent, Mr. A. V. Jackson, from Coles- 

 berg and from Damaraland. Le Vaillant says it is common on both 

 sides of the colony. He never saw any nests ; and slates their food 

 consists of insects, spiders, and caterpillars ; that they are always seen 

 in pairs ; and that, tnough abundant, they are difficult to procure, on 

 account of their wildness and restless nature. 



272. Platysteira Perspicillata, Swain. ; pia- 



tyrynchus Perspicillalus, Vieil. ; Le Gobe mouche & 

 lunettes, Le Vail., PI. 152 ; Cuv., Vol. 1, p. 329. 



DEEP brown above ; white beneath ; male with a dark collar ; 

 eyebrows and orbits white ; tail long and graduated ; three 

 outside feathers tipped with white. 



Inhabits the forests in the neighbourhood of the Gamtoos Biver, 

 lurking amid the high tree-tops, and darting on. the passing insects. 

 Le Vaillant's statement that it has the habit of spreading out its 

 fan-tail and turning it over its back, reminds one of the manners of 

 Rhipidura. 



Mr. Ayres has found it plentifully at Natal. Mr. Swainson's type 

 specimen is in the Cambridge Museum. 



Genus TCHITREA, Lesson. 



Bill more or less long, broad, and depressed at the base, 

 with the culmen slightly curved, and the sides compressed 

 towards the tip, which is emarginated ; the lateral margins 

 nearly straight, and the gonys long and ascending ; the gape 

 furnished with long slender bristles ; the nostrils basal, 

 lateral, exposed, and rounded; wings long, with the first 

 four quills graduated, and the fourth and fifth equal and 

 longest; tail long and graduated, with the middle feathers 

 sometimes prolonged ; tarsi as long as the middle toe, and 

 covered in front with scales that are slightly divided ; toes 

 moderate, with the outer longer than the inner toe, and the 

 hind one long ; the claws long, compressed, curved, and acute. 



