614 Lieut. C. G. Finch-Davies on [Ibis, 



season, wlien its far-reacliing, jackal-like cry may be heard 

 everywhere among the kloofs and hillsides. It is a fre- 

 quenter of somewhat mountainous or broken country, and 

 in Pondoland its favourite haunts are the steep hillsides 

 and cliffs bordering the river valleys. Although the bird is 

 a denizen of rocky places, I have never found a nest actually 

 in a cliff, although I believe it sometimes builds in such 

 places. All the nests I have found have been in the forks of 

 trees projecting from the steep hillsides. It has a very fine 

 and buoyant flight, and is often to be seen soaring at a 

 great height, its clear call coming down from the clouds, 

 where the bird appears like a speck in the sky. When 

 a strong breeze is blowing I have often seen it hunting, 

 poised head to wind, something after the manner of a 

 Kestrel, but without the quick beat of the wings, which 

 are somewhat flexed at the car[)al joint and almost motion- 

 less, while the eyes are bent on the ground below. After 

 remaining like this for a short time, and seeing no prey, 

 it would sail off down wind a short distance and then bring 

 up again head to wind a little farther off, and so on until a 

 mouse or rat was observed belo\v, on which it would drop 

 and bear off to the nearest perch to eat. I think that, on 

 the whole, this must be a very useful bird, as it preys prin- 

 cipally on rats and mice, together with lizards, locusts, etc. 

 It, however, occasionally takes to killing chickens, and on 

 one of my stations, a pair, which had a nest not far away, 

 used to rob me of a young chicken daily, until in self-defence 

 I had to shoot the male bird. 



I have nothing much to record with regard to plumage- 

 changes. The young have been often, and correctly, 

 described. Their plumage becomes very pale and worn 

 before the adult state is gained. Traces of immaturity are 

 usually to be seen in a certain amount of rufous mottling on 

 the mantle, when the bird is in otherwise adult plumage. 

 Amongst adult specimens the colouring of the under parts 

 is subject to a good deal of variation : thus some have these 

 parts almost entirely rufous and black, in others there is 

 often a good deal of white, especially on the chest. The 



