OXPECKERS— LAEKS 199 



OXPECKEBS 



The Oxpeckers {Buphagince) are a sub-family of the 

 Sturnidse or Starlings. 



There are two species brown in coloration, easily dis- 

 tinguishable from one another by the following key of Dr. 

 Stark's :— 



a. Bill more robust ; yellow at the base, red 



at the point. Inner web of tail-feather 



rufous Buphaga Africana. 



b. Bill less robust; entirely red. Inner web 



of tail-feathers dark brown JS. erythroryncha. 



The latter is the commoner bird on the Natal coast, being 

 more local in the Transvaal. The former is the more 

 generally distributed bird of the two. 



They are known to the farmers as Tick-Birds, on account 

 of their habit of climbing about cattle in search of the 

 parasitic pests which infest them. 



They nest in a natural hole in a tree, under the roof of a 

 house, or in a hole in a wall. Dr. Stark describes their eggs 

 as pale bluish-white, but Millar and Sparrow state that those 

 of the Eed-billed Oxpecker are spotted with purplish-red. 



LARKS 



The members of the Family Alaudidce are all more or less 

 inhabitants of the veld proper, i.e. open down country, and 

 the slopes and crests of low kopjes — and are not found in 

 forest tracts and the like. 



They are easily distinguished from any other " perching " 

 birds (Passerine) by the rounded formation and scaling of 

 the hinder part of the leg (tarsus). The majority are difficult 

 of correct identification and concise description, being 

 usually of sombre coloration — of some shade of brown. 



