302 Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton on the 
exception of Lophoaétus occipitals, Milvus egyptius, and 
perhaps Aquila wahlbergi, can be said to be common in this 
district, as compared with the more northern portions of 
Mashonaland. It is exceedingly bold, carrying off fowls 
from the homesteads and Kafir kraals, and living, the natives 
state, chiefly on hares, snakes, and Guinea-fowls, with an 
occasional blue-buck or monkey. On one occasion, near 
Salisbury, when I had shot a wild Duck, one of these birds, 
which had been hovering high overhead, had the impudence 
to carry it off. I had got out of range in an attempt to find 
a fordable spot ina stream. ‘The ceres of the two specimens 
shot by myself were of a pale greenish grey cclour and the 
legs paier still, whitish—evidently the colour referred to 
by Mr. Marshall, not olive-yellow. One of these birds had 
swallowed a stick nearly three inches in length; this was worn 
smooth by the action of the stomach, which also contained 
beetles. 
In connection with this Eagle, the natives have a folk-tale 
which professes to account for the relations at present existing 
between Hawks and the weaker birds. Long ago, they say, 
the Eagle invited his cousin, the Dove, to accompany him 
on a visit to his wife’s relations; on the road they halted, 
and, rubbing their fire-sticks, produced a blaze, at which 
the Dove commenced to warm up the cooked beans and 
porridge which he had thoughtfully brought. The Eagle, 
however, had brought nothing, and the Dove, ascertaining 
this, refused him a share of the food. They thereupon 
quarrelled, and the Eagle, flying up into the tree overhead, 
watched the Dove for some time as it cooked its food, and 
finally pounced upon it, killed and ate it, thus founding a 
custom which has continued to this day. 
148. AstuRINULA MonoGRAMMiIcA. African Buzzard-Eagle. 
I have met with this Hawk in the open woods between 
Chirinda and the Buzi, and also in the neighbourhood of 
the Sitatonga range, but it is nowhere common. 
149. Mitvus aeyprivs. Yellow-billed Kite. 
This is the most plentiful, for a few months, of all our 
