236 Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall on 
58. Cinnyris chalybea. (Lesser Double-collared Sun- 
bird.) 
This is the commonest of our Sun-birds, and, like the 
others, it is most abundant towards the close of the dry- 
season, when the yet leafless kafirbooms ( Erythrina ) are 
ablaze with their scarlet flowers, which seem to afford a 
special attraction to these birds. It is a familiar and fearless 
species, and capable of singing very sweetly. The nests, 
though often suspended, are more frequently supported by 
twigs. 
59. Cinnyris olivacea. (Olive Sun-bird.) 
This seems to be rather scarce, but may have been over¬ 
looked among the females of its gaudier relatives. Apart 
from a solitary female in my collection, I have observed only 
a pair, which were feeding on the flowers of a Eucalyptus 
in the town and allowed an approach within a few yards. 
My specimen measured 4 inches from the tip of the tail to 
the base of the beak, the latter being 10 lines in length. 
60. Cinnyris gutturalis. (Scarlet-chested Sun-bird.) 
This fine bird is not nearly so plentiful as C. chalybea and 
C. kirki, and seems to absent itself from about January to 
June, though perhaps it may be that the male loses his fine 
plumage during this period. The nest is generally sup¬ 
ported by small twigs 10 or 15 feet from the ground, and is 
somewhat untidy in appearance, being almost identical with 
that of C. chalybea; it is domed and porched, and is com¬ 
posed of grass-fibres intermixed with down and a few dead 
leaves, the whole being bound together with spiders'-web, 
and the inside lined with fine grass and down. The eggs 
(19x14 mm.) are two in number, of a pale olive ground¬ 
colour, spotted, streaked, and pencilled with dark vandyke- 
brown and with large pale underlying splashes and blotches, 
some of the markings being collected in an irregular 
zone round the larger end, and occasionally a good deal 
suffused. I do not recollect hearing this species sing, but 
it utters a very loud chirp, often with almost monotonous 
iteration. 
