156 DENIZENS OF THE i'OREST 



(Barratt) ; Irene (L. B. Taylor) and Hartebeest Poort 

 (Haagner), both the last being in the Pretoria District. It 

 is of a golden yellow colour with a black streak from the 

 bill to the eye. Length, 10 inches. 



The last member of the family is the Black-headed Oriole 

 (0. larvatus), easily distinguished from the Golden Oriole by 

 its black head and throat. Length, 9J inches. This bird is 

 fairly common in the Albany and Bathurst Divisions of the 

 Eastern Province, where it is often known as the Yellow 

 Spreeuw. During the winter months it affects the neigh- 

 bourhood of gardens and populated areas, betaking itself in 

 September to the outskirts of the Bush and commencing to 

 build in October. 



It constructs a cup-shaped nest of Ptylandsia (Old Man's 

 Beard Moss), and generally deposits three eggs of a creamy 

 white ground sparsely marked with purplish-brown. 



Mr. Ivy mentions that although usually very wild, one of 

 these birds once allowed a camera to be fixed to a bough 

 within a few feet from the nest on which it sat. It has full 

 flute-like notes which are very pleasant to the ear. 



In the Central Transvaal it is scarce, appearing only as 



partial migrants " ; this is, however, accounted for by 

 its forest-loving disposition, natural forest being an unknown 

 quantity in the Witwatersrand area. 



It feeds on berries, wild fruits, and insects and their larvae. 



WHITE =EYES 



Turning to another Family of the Passeres — ^widely 

 separated as far as classification goes — ^we come to the 

 family Zosteropidce, of which South Africa possesses four 

 species. We need only treat of the two commoner : Zoste- 

 rops virens (Green White-Eye) and Z. capensis (Cape White- 

 Eye). 



