396 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on 



often during the march, our attention would he attracted 

 by a little bird apparently in a great state of excitement, 

 chattering and vibrating its half-extended wings like a 

 young bird about to be fed. No sooner do the natives hear 

 this than the cry of ^^dendtse" is raised and a party with 

 axe and bucket at once sets out to follow the bird. It is 

 best for one or two only to follow the bird until the 

 nest is found, and a man well versed in its ways seldom 

 fails. As he follows it he whistles a pecuUar note, and 

 most of the Bechuanas use the same call. The bird 

 is distinctly elusive and seldom lets its pursuer come 

 within twenty yards of it before it darts off to another 

 tree and there goes through the same performance of 

 swearing and chattering. Some birds will fly into the 

 actual tree in which the bees' nest is placed and perch for 

 a moment close to the hole, chatteriug loudly, then, as 

 the man approaches, fly off to some tree near at hand and 

 remain silent and invisible. Others will only fly once or 

 twice quickly into or through the boughs of the tree and 

 then retire and remain silent. Some, again, will suddenly 

 disappear, and leave the man to search the neighbourhood for 

 a likely tree, generally with success. If he fails to hud the 

 nest and retires, the bird frequently appears again and leads 

 him to the same spot. Upon one occasion I shot the bird 

 after finding the nest, unknown to the natives of course, 

 and no sooner did they strike the tree with an axe than the 

 whole swarm came out and drove us all away ! I have 

 watched for the bird to come and eat up the spoils left for it, 

 but was never rewarded with a view. 



Lybius torquatus (Dumont). 



Lybius torquatus Stark & Sclater, iii. p. 157 ; Reich, ii. 

 p. 125. 



a-d. ^ ? . Lake Ngami, 2700 ft., 2nd & 6th July. 

 (Nos. 532, 533, 545, 546, G, L.) 



Iris hazel ; bill black ; feet black or dark grey. 



The Black-collared Barbet is common in the more 

 tropically wooded parts of Ngamiland. It has a remarkable 

 loud flute-like note, repeated over and over again. 



