100 BUCEEOTID-aE 



Swellendam, Oudtshoorn (Victorin), George and Knysna (Layard), 

 Port Elizabeth and Bast London (Eickard), Willowmore (Atmore), 

 and Middelburg (S. A. Mus.) ; Natal— Maritzburg (Fitzsimmons), 

 Hlabisa and Ulundi in Zululand (Woodward) ; Transvaal— Eusten- 

 burg (Ayres) ; Bechuanaland — Makalapsi river near Shoshong 

 (Gates), Tati river (Holub) ; Portuguese east Africa— Zumbo and 

 Chicowa on the Zambesi (Alexander). 



Habits. — The Eed-faced Mouse-bird does not differ from the 

 other Mouse-birds in habits. It is gregarious in flocks of from six 

 to twelve individuals ; it feeds on berries and fruits ; its flight is 

 rapid, straight and short, and it climbs and crawls about amid thick 

 bush; its cry is shrill and somewhat resembles its native Zulu 

 name according to the Woodwards. The latter authors also describe 

 a nest found in the fork of a thorn tree near the Umhlatusi river in 

 Zululand. It was composed of wild cotton in seed, an inch thick, 

 on a platform of thorny twigs. The eggs, three in number, were 

 white, freckled and streaked with red. 



Holub found that this bird did well in captivity in a large cage 

 along with other birds, and fed best on oranges. 



425a. Colius erythromelon lacteifrons. White-fronted Mouse-bird. 



Colius erythromelon7(mec Vieill.), Ourney in Anderson' s B. Damara- 

 land, p. 203 (1872). 



Colius lacteifrons, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xvii, p. 345 (1892) ; id. Hand- 

 list Bda. ii, p. 146 (1900). 



Colius indicus, var. lacteifrons, FlecJc, Journ. Ornith. 1894, p. 395. 



Description. — Eesembling C. erythromelon typiciis, but paler in 

 every respect and with a creamy- white forehead. 



Distribution. — German south-west Africa, rare in Damaraland, 

 more abundant on the Okavango river. 



Family V. BUCBROTIDiE. 



Bill large, or very large, usually bearing on the culmen an 

 elevation called a casque which is variously shaped and often as 

 long as the bill itself (though not so as a rule in South African 

 species) ; margins of the eyes furnished with strong eyelashes ; 



