710 Mr. W. L. Sclatcr on Birds collected 
wooded and shady streams, but is never actually found in 
forest. The flight is fast and straight, and the bird flies close 
to the surface of the water, except when passing from one 
water to another, when it keeps well up over the tops of the 
trees. This species, like most Kingfishers, fishes from some 
projecting stump or branch, and is often seen resting in the 
middle of large trees. The cry is very loud and somewhat 
harsh, and is generally uttered when the bird is on the wing. 
I took a nest on Sept. 9th, 1905, at the Klein Letaba; it 
was in the sandy bank of a large dry donga cut into the 
bank of the Klein Letaba Elver. The hole ran in about 
five feet, with a slight upward tendency, having a large 
cavity at the end in which I found three eggs deposited on 
the earth without any debris. Both the old birds were 
secured, the female being shot on a tree close by, while the 
male was caught sitting on the eggs. 
The soft parts of an adult are :—Irides dark brown ; bill 
black ; legs and toes brown.] 
414. Alcedo semitorquata. 
CO. Knysna, June (1) ; Z, Ngoye Hills, Oct. (1) ; 
F. Masambeti, Nov. (2). 
[Only in the Knysna, the Ngoye Hills in Zululand, and 
at Masambeti near Beira have I observed this species ; it was 
never plentiful. It frequents well-wooded and shady rivers 
and streams, and I have never seen it on open lagoons or 
lakes. It is very shy and retiring in habits, making off at 
the first alarm, and has usually to be shot on the wing. It 
fishes from an overhanging bough or thick reed, and the cry 
is a single shrill note, generally uttered on the wing. It 
breeds in the banks of the rivers and streams, but I have 
never succeeded in securing the eggs. 
The soft parts of an adult are :—Irides hazel; bill black ; 
legs and toes tomato-red.] 
415. CoRYTHORNIS CYANOSTIGMA. 
CC. Plettenberg Bay, Mch. (1) ; Z. Umfolosi Station, 
Sept. (2) ; Ngoye Hills, Oct. (1); Tv. Woodbush, June(l); 
P, Masambeti, Nov. (4); Beira, Feb. (2). 
