152 BtJSH WANDERINGS. 



tail, shiny black-and-white in colour, and the throat and 

 chest were faintly tinged with salmon-red. This was 

 hardly so common a bird as the other, but frequented 

 much the same localities. The great difference between 

 the two birds lay in the shape of the beak and gape — 

 the beak of the larger species resembling that of the 

 swallow ; the other was more like the night-jar. They 

 were both fly-catchers, but I do not think they were the 

 same species. 



"We had no real wagtails in this country, but I ob- 

 served our common little pied wagtail very common in 

 South Africa, in the months of January and February. 



The bird which we used to call the My-catclier was 

 much smaller and more common than either of the fan- 

 tails, which it, however, resembled in shape and habits, 

 and was pretty generally dispersed over the whole bush 

 throughout the year. It was of a light variegated brown 

 black-and-white colour, with a long spreading tail, and 

 principally frequented the honeysuckle scrub. Its note 

 was a kind of grating chatter, — loud for the size of the 

 bird. "We had another variety, light chestnut-brown, 

 but this was very rare with us, and I once saw a speci- 

 men of this bird, pure white, but whether it was a dis- 

 tinct species I am unable to say. 



Another little bird, which we called the Tretty Fly- 

 catcher, very much resembled the salmon-throated fantail, 

 but was much smaller, and the colour was more glossy. 

 It w^as a rare and solitary bird, and I generally used to 

 kill single examples in the thick scrub. 



