240 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



Genus YUNX, Linn. 



Bill short, straight, with the culmen slightly sloping to the 

 tip, which is rather acute, and the gonys of the lower 

 mandible moderate and advancing upwards; the nostrils 

 basal, lateral, partly closed by a membrane, and hidden by 

 the frontal plumes; wings moderate, pointed, with the first 

 quill rather shorter than the second, which is the longest ; 

 tail moderate, rounded, and composed of soft and flexible 

 feathers ; tarsi short, partly clothed with feathers, but mostly 

 covered by broad scales ; toes moderate, the two anterior ones 

 united at the base by a membrane. 



476. Yunx Pectoralis, vigors; Pro. z. s. 1 83 1, 



93 ; Y. Ruticollis, Licht, Mag. Zool 1835, Ois, t. 33, 

 Gr. et Mitch, Gen. B., PL 112. 



ABOVE, brown, profusely variegated with fine markings of 

 black, and different shades of grey ; outside webs of the 

 wing-feathers barred with rufous ; tail barred with black ; 

 chin and throat, deep chesnut; belly and vent dirty- white; 

 each feather with a dark- brown line down the shaft ; under 

 tail-coverts rufous. Length, 6" 6'" ; wing, 3" 6'" ; tail, 2" 3'". 

 This is evidently a rare bird in the neighbourhood of the colony, 

 but one specimen having reached my hands from any quarter. This 

 was sent by Mr. Henry Bowker from Butterworth, Transkei. Mr. 

 Ayres, however, seems to have found it not uncommon in Natal. 



The Fourth Family, CUCULID.ZE, or 

 Cuckows, 



have the bill of various length, generally slender, and more 

 or less compressed on the sides ; the culmen curved to the 

 tip, which is more or less emarginated ; the nostrils lateral, 

 and placed in a membranous groove ; the wings long, and 

 generally pointed ; the tail lengthened and rounded ; the 

 tarsi more or less long, and covered with broad transverse 

 scales ; the toes long and unequal ; the claws moderate, and 

 more or less curved. 



The Sub-Family, INDICATORIN-3E, or Honey- 

 Guides, 



have the bill short, broad at the base, with the culmen curved, 

 and the sides compressed to the tip, which is entire ; the 

 nostrils lateral, and placed near the culmen, in a membranous 



