18G6\] MR. P. L. SCLATKR ON SOUTH AFRICAN BIROS. 21 



2. Report on Birds collected at Windvogelberg, Soutli Africa, 

 by Captain G. E. Bulger, C.M.Z S. By P. L. Sclater, 

 M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., &c, Secretary to the Society. 



Our Corresponding Member, Capt. G. E. Bulger, forwarded to me 

 some time back a small collection of bird-skins made at Windvogel- 

 berg, in British Kaffraria. Not being myself specially acquainted 

 with African birds, I have submitted Capt. Bulger's series to the 

 examination of my friend Dr. Hartlaub of Bremen, our leading au- 

 thority on this subject, who has kindly determined the species. 

 Two of them proved to be new to science, one of which (Sazicola 

 spectabilis) has been already described in these • Proceedings ; ' the 

 otlier (Hemipteryx bnmaculata) is characterized below. 



Capt. Bulger sends me the following account of the locality where 

 his specimens were collected : — 



" Windvogelberg is a lofty and almost isolated mountain of British 

 Kaffraria, 5344 feet above the level of the sea, and situated in 

 32° 17' 50" S. lat. and 27° 7' 3" E. long. It lies about twenty 

 miles north of the great Amatola range, and rather more than three 

 leagues to the southward of the Kei River, which separates Kaffraria 

 from Kaffirland and the province of New Victoria. The country in 

 its neighbourhood is almost entirely destitute of trees, being, for 

 many miles to the south and east, a vast extent of grass-covered land, 

 misnamed "flats," inasmuch as they are throughout characterized 

 by strongly marked undulations almost amounting to the dignity of 

 hills and valleys. To the northward and westward these deep rolling 

 swells assume the magnitude of mountains, with high krantzes*, and 

 strange-looking naked peaks, here and there relieving the generally 

 monotonous features of the country. 



" The lonely little post at the foot of the Windvogelberg is at pre- 

 sent (Jan. 1864) the most advanced station occupied by the Queen's 

 troops, though the white settlements extend much further ; and its 

 garrison consists of eighty men of the 2nd Battalion, 10th Regiment, 

 and seven of the Cape Mounted Rifles. 



" The Doom or Thorn River runs within a few miles of the barracks, 

 the nearest elbow being about 3000 yards distant; and a small brook 

 comes down through a deep klooff in the mountain, and supplies the 

 post with water. The banks of both these streams are, in some parts, 

 rocky, and those of the latter are decked with small trees and bushes 

 for a short distance. There are some enormous krantzes on the 

 mountain, and here and there dense patches of shrubby vegetation. 

 Amongst the former, Rock Rabbits (Hyrax capensis) make their 

 secure and inaccessible homes ; and small birds of various kinds oc- 

 cupy the latter in considerable numbers. Rock-Thrushes (Petro- 

 cincla) and Red-breasted Woodpeckers (Geocolaptes arator) are 

 abundant on the highest pinnacles ; and on the scattered stones 

 below, SaxicoItE of several kinds are always to be found." 



* Krantz, a precipice. t Kloof, a ravine. 



