by Mr. Claude Grant in South Africa. 53 



footpaths^ and many fall victims to the traps set in these places 

 for cats and mongooses. The only call I have heard is 

 low^ which, however, is audible several hundred yards away ; 

 the cry is very deceptive, as it often sounds close when the 

 bird is really quite a distance off. This Knorhaan was 

 very plentiful at the Klein Letaba, and several pairs were 

 seen near Coguno in the Inhambane district ; but I did not 

 observe it anywhere from Beira northwards. 



The soft parts of an adult are : — Irides dark hazel ; bill 

 blackish horn-coloured, yellowish at the base and on the 

 lower mandible ; legs and toes dirty dull yellow.] 



692. Otis afroides. 



Tv. Pietersburg, Mch. (1 S)- 



["Cackling Knorhaan^'' of the Colonists. 



1 have only seen this Knorhaan in the Zoutpansberg 

 district of the Transvaal, where it inhabits the high open 

 uplands which extend for many miles around Pietersburg. 

 It is quite the noisiest of the Knorhaans ; on being disturbed 

 it flies round in a wide circle with measured beats of the 

 wings, and with the feathers of the head and nape puffed out, 

 calling loudly " kakketeekak-kak-kak,'"' continually i-epeated. 

 In the early morning and late afternoon it often calls when 

 on the ground, but the cry is then generally confined to the 

 single syllable "kak.'^ When calling on the ground the 

 head is jerked back and the feathers of the head, especially 

 of the crown, successively more fully raised each time the 

 cry is uttered.] 



697. Otis melanogaster. 



Z. Jususie Valley, Dec. (1) ; Umfolosi Station, June, 

 July (9) ; Somkele, Aug. (2) ; Tv. Klein Letaba, Julj, Aug., 

 Sept. (6); Legogot, Apl. (1); P. Masambeti, Oct. (1). 



[" Silent Knorhaan " of the Colonists. " Efumba " of the 

 Zulus. *' Gundia " of the Ntebis. 



The Silent Knorhaan was found very common in the 

 coast country of Zululand and in the low parts of the 

 Transvaal, and it was fairly abundant at Legogot. I only 

 once saw it on the high veld of Zululand, and it was bv no 



