PALCONIDiE POLYBOROIDES 379 



was there knee deep ;■ the whole was surrounded by growing rushes 

 about a foot high. 



" The nest was built of the large and long dried stems of reeds, 

 straws, and dry grass, and the hollow about 6 inches across and 

 2 inches deep was lined with finer dry grass. On removing the 

 lining I found two more eggs underneath, one fresh one and one 

 shghtly incubated. These two eggs had evidently been laid some 

 time before when the water was not nearly so high, probably before 

 the rains. The nest having been flooded by the rise in the water 

 the birds must have added to it by burying the two eggs already 

 laid and then have deposited three more eggs. "While I was 

 examining the nest the male bird flew round ; he was smaller than 

 the female, and the white edges to the scapular feathers were very 

 conspicuous. The foundation of the nest several inches below the 

 surface of the water rested on bent-down rushes." 



Layard. found nests of these birds in a swamp close to the Eoyal 

 Observatory near Capetown, and also on the Berg river in Sep- 

 tember ; Ayres on October 25, near Potchefstroom, and Butler on 

 several occasions in September and October, near Newcastle, in 

 Natal ; while Capt. Moore of the Army Pay Department has kindly 

 allowed me to reproduce the accompanying photographs of nests 

 found by him on the Cape flats near Cape Town in September and 

 October, 1900 and 1901. 



Genus XXIV. POLYBOROIDES. 



Type. 

 Polyboroides, Smith, S. A. Quart. Jmmi. i, p. 106 (1830)... P. typicus. 



Bill somewhat compressed and hooked, not toothed ; nostrils 

 horizontal ; a bare patch of skin on the side of the face extend- 

 ing round the eye to above the ear-coverts ; head crested ; tail 

 nearly square of twelve feathers ; difference of length between the 

 tibia and tarsus not exceeding that of the hind claw ; tarsi some- 

 what long and slender, nearly three times the length of the middle 

 toe without claw, covered with polygonal scales ; the tarsal joint 

 very flexible ; toes somewhat short and compressed, the outer and 

 middle toes connected at the base by a slight web. 



This genus contains two species only, one of which is confined 

 to Madagascar, the other spread over the greater part of Africa. 



