194. C rateropus ja r d in i i . Jardine’s Babbling-Thrush.
Tbe expedition under Sir Andrew Smitb first obtained this bird
in lat. 25° 24' S. We bare received a few specimens from
Kurtnnan, and Dr. Exton found it common throughout the
Bechuana and Matabili countries. Mr. Ayres has forwarded a
specimen from Natal and writes as follows : ‘ I found these birds
inhabiting the bush near the Tugela: there was a family of eight or
nine together, but I only succeeded in getting the specimen sent.
They have a loud chattering note, and a rather heavy flight; the
stomach of the bird sent contained caterpillars. 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.” It also occurs in the Transvaal, where both Mr. T. E.
Buckley and Mr. Ayres have obtained it. Mr. Buckley observes:
“ The description of the habits of C. bicolor will answer equally for
iliiq species. I took a nest of this bird on the banks of the Limpopo,
on the 23rd of November. 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.” It does not occur apparently in the Zambesi
district, but is here replaced by the closely allied Crateropus Idrldi.
Mr. Andersson procured some individuals of this species on the
Cunene river, on the 25th June, 1867, *and Senor Anchieta has
obtained it at Huilla in Mossamedes. Sir Andrew Smith gives the
following account of its h a b i t s 1“ The first specimens of this bird
were obtained in latitude 25° 24’ S., and, as we have reason to
believe, upon the extreme limit of its southern range. Where the
species was first discovered, only a few specimens were observed |
but, by the time we had reached a degree more to the northward,
they occurred in great abundance. 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 favourite feeding places ; and
though when disturbed, they would leave those, for a time, and take
up their abode among the brushwood with which the banks of the
stream were more or less covered, they invariably returned to the
haunts they had left when the cause which had led them to remove
had ceased to exist. While lodged among the reeds they were
almost incessantly in motion; and from their being generally
associated in great numbers, the noise occasioned, partly by their
flitting from one stem to another or climbing, and partly by the
harsh cries they uttered, more especially on the appearance of
danger, rendered even a temporary residence in the vicinity of their
haunts quite disagreeable. Though they evidently preferred, as
resorts, the situations described, yet, where reeds did not occur,
they were occasionally found among the brushwood remote from
rivers; and in these positions they also displayed an extremely
restless disposition; scarcely were they observed to enter a bush or
thicket before they were seen leaving it from the opposite side, for
an adjacent one. Though such was their common practice, there
were times when they appgared less disposed to hasty changes, and
when they were to be noticed, not simply following a tortuous
course, but even ascending and descending among the branches;
nay, even visiting the ground below and around the bushes. As
far as we had opportunities of judging, they feed exclusively upon
insects; and those which were killed when among the reeds, seemed
to have committed great havoc upon the larva) of G-ryllidce, &c.
while those obtained among the brushwood appeared principally to
have fed upon coleopterous insects.”
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 elongated 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
held in certain positions; “ bill, black ; tarsi and feet, dusky; iris,
bright reddish-yellow ” (Ayres); “ bill and feet, black; iris, dark
red” (Buckley). Length, 10"; wing, 4" 6"'; tail, 4" 3"’.
Fig. Smith, 111. Zool. S. Afr. Birds, pi. 6.
195. C rateropus k ir k ii, S h a r p e . Kirk’s Babbling-Thrush.
Dr. Kirk, who identified this species as Crateropus plebeius of
Ruppell, says that it was common in long grass near rivers in the
Zambesi country. He writes as follows :—“ Found in flocks of five
or six. A noisy bird in the reeds, but a fine songster when perched on
the Borassus-palms in the early mornings during the rainy season.”