280 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 
attribute it to the latter cause. In any case, the calling of 
the Hoopoe in September and the coming of the Kite are to 
them the two chief signs that hoeing-time has again come 
round. The Hoopoe is by no means partial to the forest, 
though in November last I put one out of a hollow tree in 
Chirinda, where it had, perhaps, been prospecting for a 
nesting-site. One instance has been brought to my notice 
where a pair built in a rough bark-hive placed in a tree to 
attract bees. 
93. IrRisor viripis. Kakelaar. 
I have seen this bird on a few occasions only, in the open 
woods and again in the Jihu, and believe it to be anything 
but common. 
94. Ruinopomastus cyanometas. Scimitar-bill. 
Though not so scarce as the preceding species, this 
can hardly be described as one of our commoner birds. I 
have come across it in various parts of the district, but it 
shews a decided preference for grass-jungle country, and is 
commonest, perhaps, in the Jihu and at the lower altitudes 
im Mafusi’s country. 
95. CypsELus, sp. inc.* 
A number of these birds visited my homestead at Mafusi 
on the 9th of August, 1899, and remained wheeling about 
in the neighbourhood for an hour or two. I secured a 
male ; the contents of its crop were twelve bees and an 
ichneumon-fly. Length in the flesh 8°75 inches. 
96. CaPRIMULGUS RUFIGENA. Rufous-cheeked Nightjar. 
Probably plentiful. A female, which I shot in July— 
sitting, as is the bird’s habit, in the centre of a path—had 
already well-developed eggs in her ovaries. I have not found 
that any distinction is drawn between the various species of 
Nightjars by the natives, who appear to regard them all as 
females of the long-plumed Standard-wing. 
* (Determined by Capt. Shelley as C. equatorialis y. Mill., but more 
likely to be C. niansé Reichenow.—P. L. S.} 
