166 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



considerable interest to all who are acquainted with the South- 

 African avi-fauna. 



Capt. G. E. Shelley has kindly named and classified our 

 respective collections, and has described the two new species, 

 Anthus butleri and Sphenaacus natalensis, in the 'Proceedings' 

 of the Zoological Society for March, 1882. We have adopted 

 throughout the nomenclature used by him, and by Mr. R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, in his new edition of Layard's ' Birds of South Africa.' 



Unless otherwise stated all dates refer to the year 1881. The 

 initial letters B, F, and R, after various paragraphs, denote that 

 the observations were made by individuals, not by the three of us 

 collectively. 



Gyps kolbi (Daud.), South African Griffon Vulture. — This 

 most useful bird is exceedingly numerous in the Newcastle district, 

 as many as seventy or eighty being frequently seen together. Its 

 numbers appear to diminish towards the coast-line, though it can 

 nowhere be called anything but a common species. A dozen or 

 more were feeding on a carcase at Maritzburg on December 12th, 

 1881. Its stronghold would appear to be in the more elevated 

 kloofs of the Drakensberg, where it undoubtedly breeds in con- 

 siderable numbers in the month of May. Butler observed 

 hundreds of them, apparently nesting, in some steep "krantzes" 

 not far from Newcastle in May, 1881, but, thinking it too early, 

 did not try for eggs. It may possibly have been a roosting-place 

 only. In this land of dead animals the presence of such a watchful 

 army of scavengers is of incalculable advantage. What would 

 happen if the "Aas-vogels" were to strike work is hard to 

 imagine ! As it is there are always too many carcases of horses 

 and oxen to be seen lying about untouched, poisoning the atmo- 

 sphere and the water supply in their decomposition. Fortunately 

 the "Aas-vogel" is not (to our knowledge, at any rate) sought 

 after for the table, and his repulsive appearance at close quarters 

 is, moreover, much in his favour. Anything more horridly 

 grotesque than one of these Vultures waddling along in a vain 

 attempt to take flight after a good " gorge " cannot be imagined ; 

 but compare the same bird as seen a quarter of an hour before, 

 circling in magnificent spirals far above his intended meal, and 

 you have indeed a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous. 



In discussing a carcase a good deal of noise proceeds from the 

 greedy crew — a harsh, grating cry of anger apparently. They fight 



