210 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



got accustomed to the presence of strangers, and we could have 

 obtained dozens if we had wished. 



" At the Ingagane, when I was engaged in building some forts, 

 these birds gradually got so tame that they would sit on the rocks 

 within a few yards of the working party, darting eagerly down on 

 the insects disturbed by the removal of the smaller rocks for 

 building the walls. A pair took up their quarters in the rocks 

 close to my tent, and used to come within a few feet of the door 

 while I was sitting writing within" (R). Butler considers this 

 species much more closely allied to Saxicola than to Petrocincla. 

 It frequents the open country, and in habits and appearance in 

 the field it is truly Saxicoline. 



Cossypha caffra (Vieil.), Cape Chat Thrush.— Obtained at 

 Newcastle by Butler, also by Lieut. Giffard, " The Welsh" Regt. 

 Lieut. Harkness, of the same regiment, obtained it at Lady- 

 smith (R). It is common and breeds in all suitable places in 

 that locality. 



Myrmecocichlaformicivora (Vieil.), Southern Ant-eating Wheat- 

 ear. — Exceedingly common after passing Estcourt. One of the 

 most characteristic birds of the dreary, treeless "veldt," the mono- 

 tony of which it does much to relieve. Though not difficult to get 

 near, they keep the best possible look-out from the tops of the 

 ant-hills, and it is exceedingly hard to find their nests. Butler 

 obtained a single white egg, measuring 0'90 by - 70 in., from one 

 nest near Newcastle, on September 7th, and Reid found two nests 

 containing young birds. Butler's nest was in a hole in an ant- 

 hill, composed of dry grass and rubbish, but the two latter 

 were in tunnels or holes (whether made by the bird or not is not 

 known) in the sides of holes excavated by the Ant-bear. Often 

 seen in family parties on an ant-hill after the young are hatched ; 

 the young are browner and dingier-looking than the old birds. 

 Their flight is straight and rapid, and it quite startles any one 

 unacquainted with their habits to see them suddenly check them- 

 selves and drop like a stone from a height of several feet on to a 

 convenient rock or ant-hill, with a shock sufficient apparently to 

 break every bone in their little bodies. The males sing very 

 prettily at times, both stationary and on the wing, the note being 

 loud and rich. An ant-hill recently broken into by an erratic 

 ox-waggon or by an Ant-bear is a sure find for them. When 

 wounded they go to ground like a rat if there is a hole near. 



