SUNBIRDS 127 



easily distinguished by its larger size and by almost the whole 

 breast being bright scarlet, which is divided froin the green 

 throat by a narrow band of steel-blue. Length, 5| inches. 



It is a bird which may be found either in the bush-clothed 

 kloofs, the gardens and orchards, or more open bushy 

 stretches. 



The nest is a somewhat circular structure with a domed 

 side entrance, and is either fixed to the end of a fairly short 

 mimosa twig, or suspended from a thin twig in a kloof. 



On January 5 we took a very neat nest built in the centre 

 of a pendent bunch of ptylandsia, which is now in the 

 Transvaal Museum. 



There is another common species, closely resembling the 

 foregoing in coloration, but is smaller (length, 6 inches), the 

 Lesser Double-collared Sunbird ((7. chalybeus), which is not 

 so common as the larger bird in Albany, but at Port Alfred 

 the position is reversed, the smaller species being by far the 

 predominant one. 



Both these " Collared " species lay grey eggs thickly 

 mottled with slate colour and brown, those of the latter 

 bird, being naturally smaller. 



The Scarlet-chested Sunbird {C. gutturalis), in its plumage 

 of velvety-black, and scarlet chest and lower throat, is 

 perhaps one of the loveliest Sunbirds in South Africa. It 

 is common in Zululand and Natal, and at Warmbaths, 

 Transvaal. 



The Black Sunbird {C. amethystinus) is of a velvety-black 

 with the crown of the head metallic-green, and the throat 

 and cheeks, shoulders, and upper taU-coverts metaUic- 

 purplish-violet with a coppery sheen. 



Like the Scarlet-chested Sunbird, this species is par- 

 ticularly fond of the bright red blossoms of the KafQrboom 

 (Erythrina caffra). Its nest does not differ to any marked 



