114 MR. E. P. RAMSAY ON THE BIRDS OF [Jan. 18, 



ill temper ; and in following its spoor the furrows ploughed up in 

 the ground, and which are more or less made by all the different 

 species, are so common as, when the ground is too hard to enable 

 more than a faint mark to be seen, to prove to the hunter the species 

 he is following. I have never seen more than three (a bull, a cow, 

 and a calf) together. I have found them in considerable numbers 

 from the Black Uinfolosi river in Zululand all along the Ubombo 

 range up towards the Limpopo, though as the)' near that river they 

 become scarce, and I only know of one instance of their being found 

 near the Zambesi. I have, however, no doubt that they existed at one 

 time all over the thorn-country south of the Zambesi, as oral tradi- 

 tions of their ferocity are common among the Dutch hunters ; and no 

 doubt their own ill-temper accounts for their being now partially ex- 

 tinct in that district, self-defence on the hunter's part having caused 

 their destruction ; while lower down to the south-eastward, where no 

 doubt they were originally more common, they are disappearing more 

 rapidly than any other species. 1 have seen a considerable number of 

 horns from Abyssinia, and they appear to me to resemble in size and 

 shape those of this species, though perhaps a trifle longer ; but until 

 some one will describe the animal to which they belong, it is useless 

 to make guesses which are not founded on sufficient data. 



It will be seen from the above remarks how very limited my 

 knowledge of the subject under discussion really is ; nor should I 

 have ventured to make them before you this evening had I not felt 

 that it is only by each traveller describing what has actually come 

 within his own observation that such questions as the number of 

 species of auy animal on so large a continent as Africa can ulti- 

 mately be set at rest ; and this must be my excuse should you feel 

 that from my slender acquaintance with my subject I have been to 

 any extent occupying your time to-night under false pretences. 



6. List of Birds met with in North-eastern Queensland, 

 chiefly at Rockingham Bay. By E. Pierson Ramsay, 

 C.M.Z.S.— Part II.* 



[Received December 28, 1875.] 



174. Ptilinopus swainsonii f. 



This species is somewhat rare in the Rockingham-Bay district; a 

 few only were obtained. 



1/5. Lamprotkeron SUl'ERBUS. 



I found this, one of our most beautiful species, tolerably abundant 

 in all the scrub lands of the Herbert river and coast-range. Their 

 note is a broken " coo," prolonged into a rolling guttural sound at 

 the end ; they may be heard at least half a mile off. But, owing to 

 the dense nature of the scrubs, the birds are at all times difficult to 

 * Continued from P. Z. S. 1875, p. 6(XS. 



t Where no references are given, the names are taken from Gould's 'Hand- 

 book.' 



