ORNITHOLOGY. 299 



almost unknown, Sir John Kirk being the only naturalist 

 who has written upon the birds, and the species which he 

 has recorded are sufficiently interesting to arouse our in- 

 terest in the further exploration of the locality. As far as 

 one can judge from the materials at present existing in 

 museums, the birds of the Zambesi region would appear 

 to have their nearest affinities in those of South- Western 

 Africa, that is, the provinces of Benguela, Mossamedes, 

 and the Ovampo Country to the north of Damara Land. 

 Thus it is that Accipiter Ovampensis of Gurney, discovered 

 in Ovampo Land, is now known from the Zambesi {Mus. 

 Brit.), and, on the other hand, the Zambesi Kestrel (Cerck- 

 neis Dickinsouii) occurs also in South -Western Africa. 

 Instances of this kind might be multiplied to a greater 

 extent, but an exact comparison cannot be made until the 

 two regions have been more thoroughly explored. The 

 Victoria Falls, up to the present time, constituted the 

 only locality whence the peculiar Babbling Thrush (Pinar- 

 ornis plumosus) and Shelley's Bush-Chat {ThamnolcEa Shel- 

 leyi) have yet been found, but one of these has now been 

 discovered by Mr. Oates in the Matabele Country. 1 Future 

 research may increase the known range of the other 

 Zambesi birds in a southerly direction, and it seems un- 

 likely that the Zambesi region possesses a peculiar bird- 

 fauna. Indeed, since the first edition of this book was 

 published, a most important paper has been published by 

 Captain Shelley on the birds procured by Mr. Jameson's 

 expedition to the Mashona Country, and the discovery 

 of such West African genera as Hylypsornis, Hyliota, and 

 Sharpia in the Zambesi region shows the connexion be- 

 tween its avifauna and that of South-Western Africa. It 

 is very much to be regretted that the collections made 

 by the late Dr. Bradshaw in the Makalaka Country and 

 on the Zambesi have been dispersed without any record 

 having been published of their contents. 



1 [Since the above was written for the first edition of this work the range of 

 T. Shelleyi has been still farther extended (see p. 313), and that of P. plumosus 

 has been increased. — Ed.] 



