243 



480. Indicator Minor, vieii. ; i. Minimus, 



Temm. ; J. Buphagoides, Leadb. ; /. Dwdematus, 

 Hupp., Neue Wirb., p. 61. ; Cuculus Minor, Guv. Vol. 

 2, p. 462 ; Le Petit Indicateur, Le Vail, No. 242. 



GENERAL colour above, yellowish-brown ; the yellow brightest 

 on the wing-feathers ; head ashy-brown ; cheeks, chin, throat, 

 breast, and belly, cinereous ; vent white ; thighs faintly 

 maculated with brown ; moustache blackish ; tail composed 

 of twelve feathers, thus marked : two inner pair all brown, 

 four outer pair white, with base and tips brown. In this 

 species the outer pair are but very slightly shorter than the 

 next. Length, 5" 9'" ; wing, 3" 7" ; tail, 2* &". 



The lesser Honey-Guide is found at the Knysna ; and LeVaillant gives 

 the Swartkop and Sunday's Rivers as other localities. It probably 

 extends all along the South-East Coast. Mr. Atmore procured it at 

 Blanco, and writes thus : " May 26, 1864. I have had another good 

 opportunity of watching the habits of I. Minor. I used to wonder 

 where they got all the bees-wax that is usually in their gizzards, and 

 the other day I found out. There was a <5 at a bee-hive as busy as 

 possible catching bees. After watching him for some time, Tom shot 

 him, and his gizzard was full of bees' legs, with the wax on them. He 

 is held in no repute here as an indicator ; but J. Major is, and he is 

 scarce.'' Mr. Atmore has mistaken the pollen of the bee for wax. The 

 bird's habit of capturing bees like a fly-catcher is interesting ; but his 

 most singular statement follows. I had asked him for information 

 upon certain points, and he writes : " I can't answer your queries yet, 

 but I can tell you that I. Minor kills and eats small birds as savagely 

 as Lanius Collaris ! The very first I shot was in the act of eating a 

 sparrow that J saw him kill inflight : I suspect the others of similar 

 propensities." In another letter he writes : " Eggs white, in nests of 

 Picus Capensis and Laimodon Unidentatus" 



The Sub-Family, COCCYZIN^E, or Ground 

 Cuckows, 



have the bill generally elevated at its base, with the culmen 

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

 entire ; the gonys usually long and straight ; the nostrils 

 basal, with the opening generally linear, and partly closed by 

 a scale ; the wings moderate, and more or less rounded ; the 

 tail long and graduated ; the tarsi lengthened, and covered 

 with broad scales ; the toes unequal, and armed with various- 

 si/ed claws. 



Le Vaillant, in his " Oiseaux d'Afrique," gives as South African, 

 several birds belonging to this sub-family which are now well known 

 to inhabit Madagascar. I feel sure that Le Vaillant. must also have 



