726 Mr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 



observed in pairs^ or, during the latter end of the breeding- 

 season, in family-parties, and frequented both ordinary bush- 

 veld and denser woods or patches of forest, being more 

 especially noticed searching for food on the dead trees in 

 the native clearings. In cry and habits it is exactly a 

 smaller replica of C. ahingdoni. 

 The soft parts are : — 



cJ . Irides crimson ; bill, legs and toes slate-coloured. 



$ . Irides reddish brown ; bill, legs and toes slate-coloured. 

 Juv. Irides brown ; bill horn-coloured, paler at base of 

 lower mandible; legs and toes pale slate-coloured.] 



411. Thripias namaquus. 



Tv. Klein Letaba, Sept. (1) ; P. Coguno, Aug. (1) ; 

 Beira, Nov., Dec. (2) ; Tete, Aug., Sept. (3). 



[I have found this striking Woodpecker in the Nortli- 

 Easteru Transvaal and in the Inhambane, Beira, (ioron- 

 goza, and Tete districts of Portuguese East Africa. Only 

 one pair was observed in the low veld of the North-Eastern 

 Transvaal, where the male was shot, but it was more plentiful 

 in the Portuguese country, especially from Beira to the 

 Zambesi, although nowhere can it be said to be common. 

 It is always found in pairs and has all the habits of the 

 other Woodpeckers, but its larger size compared with the 

 other bush- veld haunting species and its louder and hai'sher 

 note at once betray its presence; and when once seen and 

 heard, it cannot be mistaken for any other species or be easily 

 overlooked. Like C. ahhigdoni and B. hartlauhi, this species 

 has a great partiality for dead trees, especially those leit 

 standing in clearings and native gardens. 



The soft parts are : — S & ? • Irides crimsoii; bill, legs 

 and toes dark slate-coloured. J 



442. Mesopicus griseocepiialus. 



CC. Knysna, Dec, Jan. (7) ; Z. Sibudeni, Nov. (4) ; 

 Tv. Zuurbron, Apl., May (2); Woodbush, Nov. (G). 



\_" Squopamiti " of the Zulus. 



This species is strictly a bird of the forest, and does not 

 inhabit ordinary wcli-timbered country ("bash-veld^') as 



