of the Lydenburg District. 
193 
we see the Secretary-bird stalking about, until we arrive at 
Rhinoceros River. Here are to be found more Guinea-fowl 
in the Mimosa thorn trees, the Hoopoe ( Upupa minor), a few 
Woodpeckers, many of the Puff-backed Shrikes, Martins, &c. 
Hence we proceed to the Vaal river, where Ardea goliath is 
to be met with ; and from this place to about ten miles north 
of Potchefstroom you get a great variety of Egrets and Herons, 
which birds are my especial favourites. Of this family I have 
seen and shot in the above district Ardea egretta (one of the 
most lovely, if not, indeed, the lovliest of all the Egrets of 
South Africa), A. cinerea , A. atricollis, A. purpurea , A. bu- 
bulcus , A. garzetta , A. leucoptera, Ardetta minuta, Botaurus 
stellaris, Nycticorax griseus, as well as Spoonbills, Storks, and 
Pelicans; so that it will be seen that the locality is a good one 
for water-birds. At about thirty miles north of Potchef¬ 
stroom the Mooi river takes its rise, followed, more or less, by 
an open country; and then we get what in the colony are 
called Kops, or Rants, with quantities of sugar-bush, on 
which we found several kinds of Sun-birds. Our way then 
lay to Pretoria, thence to Nazareth, and afterwards to Ly¬ 
denburg, the country being similar all the way. Near the 
latter place, however, we get a partially wooded and moun¬ 
tainous country; and as we draw nearer the chain of the Dra- 
kenberg the scenery increases in wildness and grandeur; 
here, in the deep kloofs, the loud note of Corythaix musophaga 
was heard. At the base of these mountains, in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the Macamac goldfields, I found the country to 
be very rich in birds, and many species hitherto supposed to 
be peculiar to Natal occurred to us. Most of the rarer species, 
including the new Bradypterus , were obtained in this district. 
I must add that the neighbourhood of Rustenberg I have 
since found to be a favourite resort for many of the migratory 
European birds. 
I need hardly mention a fact that I fear will be only too 
painfully apparent from a perusal of this paper—that I can 
lay no claim to a scientific knowledge of ornithology; the 
few notes here put together have been written at the request 
of Mr. Rowdier Sharpe, who has named my collection for 
