126 
POPULAR HISTOEY OE BIEDS. 
thorns do not occur for this purpose, it contrives to sus- 
pend them from the forked branches of trees ; thus seeming, 
to the fancy of the Dutch, to hold among the lower orders 
of the creation the same place as the Government officer, 
called the Fiscal, formerly held among the colonists^/^ 
The eyes in some birds of this family are surrounded by 
a membranous ring, void of feathers; the edges of this are 
more or less notched. Yieillot has described the genus 
under the name of Prionops, There are at least three 
species of these birds : one, the P. Talacoma, a black-and- 
white bird, was found by Dr. Andrew Smith in the interior 
of South Africa, where he observed it in flocks of six or 
eight. The stomachs of all the specimens he examined were 
full of white ants, and he was led to think that these Termi- 
tidcB formed their favourite food. The birds utter their 
cries simulilmeously when searching the ground for food ; 
and, when one of a flock is induced to fly, the others follow 
the examplet. It seems probable that these insects are 
closely connected with the search after their food. White 
ants, when found, are in great abundance ; and the bird^s so- 
ciability has no tendency to diminish the supply of the flock. 
* Catalogue of South African Museum, p. 27. 
t Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 
