COUCALS 59 



its occurrence in South African territory sufficient to warrant 

 its inclusion in the South African hst. 



Mr. Sclater (" Fauna of South Africa : Birds," vol. iii.) 

 says that an example in the South African Museum from 

 Swellendam agrees in every respect with another from 

 Mombasa in British East Africa. Dr. Gunning has recently 

 kindly permitted me to examine the fine series of skins of 

 Gentropus burchelli and G. superciliosus in the Transvaal 

 Museum, and we have no hesitation in including the latter 

 bird in the avifauna of the sub-continent. 



Both birds have much the same geographical range, being 

 found throughout the country in most of the Bush regions. 



The Vlei Louries — as the name implies — are fond of 

 hunting the bush along rivers and vleis, where they may be 

 found singly or in pairs creeping about on the ground among 

 the undergrowth. They live principally upon locusts, cater- 

 pillars and other insects, thus rendering good service to the 

 farming community. They have a characteristic cry of coo 

 coo coo coo coo which sounds somewhat ventriloquial. 



The nest is domed, with an opening on one side, and is 

 constructed of sticks ; it is usually placed in a thick bush 

 not far from the ground. The eggs, three to five in number, 

 are rather rounded in shape and pure white in colour. We 

 give an illustration of G. superciliosus at its nest, originally 

 published in the Ibis for 1901 and wrongly ascribed to 

 hurchelli. The distinct eyebrow characteristic of the former 

 is very plainly seen in the photograph. 



The Black-breasted Coucal {Gentropus grilli), called by 

 Mr. W. L. Sclater the Natal Coucal (C. nigrorufus), seems to 

 be not uncommon in the Lydenburg District of the Transvaal. 

 It ranges from Natal through the Transvaal and Rhodesia 

 over to the West Coast. It has the head and entire under- 

 parts black, thus differing materially from the preceding 



