162 DENIZENS OF THE FOREST 



The sub-family Malaconotidce contains some very well- 

 known birds, such as the Bush Shrikes {Telephonus). 



The best known species is the Black-headed Bush Shrike 

 (T. senegalus), known to the Zulus as the " Inqupan." It 

 extends from Port Elizabeth eastwards to Zululand and the 

 Transvaal, and from Mashonaland to Northern Damara- 

 land. 



It usually lays three eggs of a white ground colour marked 

 with pale purple and reddish-pink. 



The Tchagra Bush Shrike (T. tchagra) is a little smaller 

 and differs also in having a rufous crown instead of the 

 black crown characteristic of T. senegalus. It lays three 

 eggs of a creamy white colour irregularly marked with pale 

 lavender and purplish-brown streaks, which are in some 

 specimens sparsely, in others thickly distributed. 



Both these birds are beautiful whistlers — ^indeed, to such 

 an extent is this developed that one not accustomed to the 

 bird would mistake their call for the whistle of a human 

 being. They are fond of bushy country and are friends 

 of the agriculturist, devouring large quantities of insects, 

 although they also eat berries and other vegetable matter. 



A still smaller species is found in the Transvaal Bechuana- 

 land and Damaraland, extending to Angola and the Upper 

 Zambesi Valley. This is the Three-streaked Bush Shrike 

 (T. australis). It is also a lover of bush country and was 

 recorded by Erikson as breeding on the Limpopo Eiver in 

 December and near Lake Ngami in March. A nest taken on 

 New Year's day, 1906, on the bank of the Crocodile Eiver 

 three or four miles north of Hartebeest Poort in the Pretoria 

 District was a very neat little saucer of rootlets, and con- 

 tained three eggs of a pure white prettily marked with 

 reddish-brown spots. 



