36 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 
It is therefore evident that Mr. Swynnerton has made 
no slight addition to the Avifauna of South Africa, besides 
providing us with excellent field-notes on many little-known 
species. 
The nomenclature and arrangement of Mr. W. L. Sclater’s 
‘Fauna of South Africa’ are followed throughout this 
paper.—P. L. S.] 
1. Corvuttur atpicottis. White-necked Raven. 
Extremely plentiful throughout the district in pairs or in 
flocks. Sometimes before a storm they will rise above the 
forest of Chirinda in large numbers—a hundred or more— 
and wheel and caw in the air after the manner of English 
Rooks under similar circumstances. They are essentially 
carnivorous, taking the place of the Vultures on the high- 
lands, while their fondness for grubs and grasshoppers renders 
them occasionally of service to the tobacco-planter ; but they 
do considerable damage to the mealie-crop, both when first 
sown and when ripening. It is said that Gungunyana 
regarded the Ravens as his especial pets, and would even 
order an execution—usually of a man of whose increasing 
wealth he was jealous—expressly “to feed the Ravens,” 
should the flocks, which always frequented the gate outside 
which the dead bodies of his victims were exposed, have 
been without human food for some length of time. These 
birds breed in the rocky “ kraantzes”’ to be found here and 
there throughout the district. 
2. Corvus scapuLatus. Pied Crow. 
This Crow is comparatively rare on the Gazaland high- 
lands, and the exceptional individuals which may be seen 
are usually, I believe, on their way from the lowlands to 
the more western or northern districts of Mashonaland, 
or vice versé. A pair, however, recently built in a large 
mahogany-tree (Khaya senegalensis) close to the homestead 
of my neighbour, Mr. Odendaal, and brought off their 
young, two in number: the four birds may now (end of 
February) be seen daily in his mealie-field. This species 
appears to be more plentiful in the lowlands. 
