208 Mr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 



hi^eed on the island. Wharton descrihes the bird as not at 

 all common in autumn or early winter, very common from 

 January to March, hut rare in April : Whitehead saw none 

 after March, and says it is not nearly so common as the 

 Wood-Lark ; while Backhouse found it very abundant in 

 January near Ajaccio, and Parrot only met with three 

 individuals on the Campo de L^Oro on March 1 during the 

 whole of his stay. Two specimens obtained by Parrot had 

 remarkably short wings (96 and 103 mm.), and are ascribed 

 by him to the Mediterranean race. 



[To be continued.] 



VIII.— On the Birds collected b>/ Mr. Claude H. B. Grant at 

 various Localities in South Africa. By W. L. Sclater, 

 M.A., F.Z.S.jM.B.O.U. With Field-Notes by the Collector. 



(Plates III. & IV. and Text-figures 8 & 9.) 



For a period of nearly five years Mr. Claude Grant was 

 engaged in forming a collection of the Vertebrates of South 

 Africa. The cost of this exploration was entirely borne by 

 Mr. Charles D. Rudd. 



The choice of localities to be visited and the general 

 direction of the matter was left to Mr. Oldfiekl Thomas, while 

 the primary object of the exploration was to increase the 

 collection of Mammals in the National Collection, a result 

 which was amply accomplished, and is fully detailed in 

 the series of papers published by Messrs. O. Thomas and 

 H. Schwann in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society 

 of London ' for the years from 1904 to 1908. 



In the intervals, however, of trapping small Mammals, 

 Mr. Grant found time to make a very extensive collection 

 of bird-skins. These, apart from the novelties, are a most 

 valuable addition to the British Museum, as the South African 

 series there was previously in some respects singularly 

 deficient. 



The following is a dated itinerary shewing the various 

 localities at which birds were collected, all of which will be 

 found in the sketch-map (text-fig. 8, p. 213). 



