I'isits to Members' Aviaries. 
97 
" to its iiiislicss, and came regularly into tiie house lo be fed. It disap- 
" peared at tlie [lairing- season, so 1 suppose it got married!" 
Layard aiul Sharpe state : 
" W e found it common in the Alijau) division, and one evening took 
■• live out ol' the stem of an aloe at Talk I'arm, whither they had retired 
" lo roost. We were assured by Mr. \Vhile, the owner of the farm, that 
" they had bred there, making the hole themselves." 
Mrs. Buryess' birds, tliouyh iniinature, were very til, and 
tightly feathered, vivacious, and \ery fearless for recent 
arrivals. They certainly were very handsome, even though as 
yet not in adult plumage, and interesting birds. 
Jakuixi<;"s Bauhlkr (Craieropiis jardinii) : This species 
is new to aviculture, and a very handsome bird, as the following 
description indicates. 
As 1 ha\ e no personal notes of this bird, and had not time 
to take more than main features of colouration. I am quoting 
description and notes of wild life from Layard and Sharpe's 
Hirds of Africa. 
Description : Above olive-brown; feathers of the head 
dark brown, edged with greyish-white, imparting to the bird a 
scaled appearance: chin, throat, breast, and anterior portion of 
belly ashy-brown, marked with eloitgated white spots: posterior 
portion of belly and vent yellowish-grey: tail dark brown, centre 
pair of feathers strongly tinged with grey, all crossed by dark 
brown bars, only visible if viewed in certain positions ; bill black, 
tarsi and feet dusky: iris bright yellowish-red (Ayres), dark red 
(Buckley). Length loins., of which the tail measures 4^ins." 
irHd Life: Mr. Ayres writes: 
" I found these birds inhabiting the bush near Tugela ; there was a 
" party of eight or nine together .... they have a chattering note, 
■' and a rather heavy flight; the stomach ot the bird sent contained cater- 
" pillars. I have never met with them on the coast, and believe they are 
" entirely confined to the upper districts; they are, however, also found on 
" the river Limpopo, and it also occurs in the Transvaal." 
Mr. Buckley observes: 
'■ I took a nest of this bird on the Limpopo. It contained but one 
" egg; but the parent bird was close to the nest, which was about the size 
" of a Blackbird's, deep and coarsely lined, and placed in a small but very 
" thorny tree. The eggs were of a blue colour, like a Thrush's without 
" spots." 
Sir Andrew Smith thus describes its habits : 
" Spots covered with reeds, such as are seen along the margins of 
" many of the rivers of the country they inhabit, appeared to form their 
