BRACHONYX APIATA. 
Form, &c. — Head rather small ; body moderately full ; tail rather long and 
slightly forked. Bill conical, the upper mandible slightly curved, especially 
towards the point ; nostrils narrow, and nearly bare ; bristles at angles of 
mouth strong. Wings rounded, and when folded extend rather beyond the 
middle of the tail ; the first quill feather rudimentary, the third, fourth, and 
fifth equal and longest, the second slightly shorter than the third ; the tertiary 
quill feathers rather shorter than the second primary quill feather, and the 
secondaries rather shorter than the tertiaries. Tarsi moderately robust, an- 
teriorly scutellated, posteriorily entire ; toes short and rather strong, the 
three directed forwards, armed with short, slightly-curved, and blunt claws, 
the one backward with a long, nearly straight, and pointed claw. 
Length from the point of the bill to the 
base of the tail 
of the bill to the angle of the 
mouth 0 10 
Length of the tail 2 10 
wings when folded 3 6 
Female colours less bright. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length of the tarsi 0 10| 
outer toe 0 3J 
middle toe 0 6 
inner toe 0 3^ 
hinder toe 0 3 % 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
3 6 
This species has rather an extensive range, and specimens are procured in great abun- 
dance towards Cape Town. It inhabits arid situations, and is common on the sand-flats, 
immediately to the eastward of Table Bay. In the situations it inhabits, it is often seen, 
especially in the morning, rising, almost perpendicularly, to a considerable height in the 
air, and descending in the same manner, so that it frequently lights on the very shrub or 
knoll from which it ascended. During the ascent, it strikes its wings together with con- 
siderable violence, from time to time, and so produces sharp sounds, a circumstance to which 
it owes its colonial appellation. 
