394 ZOO-GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



birds of passage belong to this class. It will therefore suffice if I 

 refer to the Poliornis ruftpennis, Strick., a bird of prey ; to Eury- 

 stomus, Merops, Hyphantornis and Euplectes, besides Chryso- 

 coccyx and Oxylophus, and many waders. It will be more 

 interesting to call to mind a variety which periodically disperses 

 to the south as well as to the north, such as Coturnix Delegorguei, 

 Delg. Like many other birds, this elegant quail seems to have 

 its proper abode in the district lying between the lakes, for I was 

 able to collect specimens of it there all through the year, both 

 hatching their eggs and also as young and fully grown birds. 

 Their proper home may be considered to lie between the third 

 parallels of latitude on either side of the equator; from this region 

 however, large flocks start on their migrations to the north and 

 south ; to the north when the summer rains clothe the steppes 

 with verdure and food is not wanting for the young ones, to 

 the south when the country in the north is bare and scorched, 

 and when in their proper home a scarcity of seeds arises from 

 a short period of repose in the vegetation. So we find these 

 birds in February in South Africa, even beyond the 25th 

 parallel, while in September they collect in Kordofan under 1 4 

 N. lat. Turnix lepurana, Sm., also seems to make rather 

 distant migrations. But, with regard to all these movements, 

 it must be remembered that though large numbers of the birds 

 mentioned leave their proper haunts for certain periods, as 

 many individuals and pairs remain behind as can find subsist- 

 ence without too much difficulty. And herein lies the chief 

 difference between such local wanderings and those of the real 

 birds of passage from other continents, which change their 

 quarters temporarily and periodically without leaving behind 

 any individuals of their kind except those that are sick or 

 incapable of long flights. Moreover, these movements among 

 our birds are almost exclusively confined to the inhabitants of 

 the brushwood and the steppe, while the occupants of the real 

 forests never change their dwellings, at least with very few 

 exceptions. 



Now, while we cannot speak of real migrations among our 

 indigenous feathered tribes, Europe and Asia send us a con- 

 siderable number of guests ; many of them remain in the 

 northern part of the continent, but a large number reach the 



