212. C o ssypha h u m ir a l is . White-shouldered Chat-Thrush.
Bessonomis humeralis, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 132 (1867).
This is apparently the rarest of the South African Chat-Thrushes,
and is found only in the interior. Sir Andrew Smith met with it.
on the banks of the Marico river, and procured it from about lat.
26° S. to the tropics. We have received it from Kuruman, but in
very limited numbers. Dr. Exton procured it at Kanye in the
Matabili country, and Mr. T. E. Buckley shot a male near the
Makalapse river in Bamangwato on the 25th of October, 1873. He
writes :—“ I observed a pair of these birds on a small stony hill,
and procured the male. They were not at all shy; but from the
thickness of the cover it was difficult to get far enough off to shoot
them without spoiling them. They flew and hopped about the
bushes in search of food, but seemed to avoid the open ground.”
Mr. Ayres obtained a specimen in the Transvaal, and observes as
follows:—“ I shot this scarce bird among the thick scrub on the
Limpopo; the stomach contained insects; it was lively and restless
in its actions/’
Adult.—Head, mantle, and scapulars grey, with a slight tinge of
olive.on the back; rump and upper tail-coverts orange chestnut,
deeper on the latter ; tail also orange, with a broad terminal band
of black, the outer feather also blackish on the^ outer web, and the
two centre feathers entirely blackish; wing-coverts black, with a
broad longitudinal white patch formed of the inner lesser and
median coverts, and the outer web or the whole of a few of the
inner greater coverts; quills blackish, with a narrow external
border of greyish buff; over the eye a narrow white line, extending
frpm the base of the bill to the hinder ear-coverts; lores, cheeks,
and entire side of face and of neck black; chin and a patch on the
sides of the upper breast also black; sides of body, vent, and under
' tail-coverts pale orange-buff; under wing-coverts white, the edge of
the wing black; bill black; legs brownish-black; iris dark hazel.
Total length, 6‘5 inches; culmen, 0'6 ; wing, 2’95; tail, 2’9 ;
tarsus, 1*15.
Fig. Smith, HI. Zool. S. Afr. Birds, pi. 48.
213. C ossypha sign a ta . Brown Chat-Thrush.
Bessonornis signatus, Layard, B. S. Afr. p. 131.
This rare bird has never yet fallen under our notice personally,
but specimens now in the British Museum were procured by the
late Sir Andrew Smith, who, however, does not seem to have
bestowed a name on the species. It was first described by Professor
Sundevall from examples procured by Wahlberg in “ Lower Kaf-
fraria.” This locality is not British Kaffraria as at present understood,
and the bird should probably be looked for in Natal.
General colour above chocolate brown, shading off into lighter
and more fulvous brown on the lower back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts; lores blackish, over the eye a distinct white eyebrow,
surmounted by a narrow black line drawn from the lores to above
the eye; round the eye a circlet of whitish feathers; ear-coverts
brown, darker below the eye; cheeks and sides of neck greyish
with a slight indication of a darker malar stripe; under-surface of
body white, the throat circumscribed by a band across the breast
which is greyish-brown like the sides of the body; under wing-
coverts white with brown bases, giving a mottled appearance to the
edge of the wing; upper wing-coverts greyish, the inner ones slightly
edged with olive-brown, the edge of the wings slightly and the
spurious quills broadly tipped with white; primary-coverts blackish ;
quills blackish-brown, the primaries edged with white, the secondaries
with brown, the innermost resembling the back; primaries
white at the base of the outer web forming a conspicuous alar
speculum; two centre tail-feathers olive-brown, the others blackish,
broadly tipped with white, and washed with olive-brown, especially
near the base. Total length, 7'3 inches; culmen, 0'85; wing, 3‘25 ;
tail, 3‘2 ; tarsus, 1-15.
214. Ciohladusa ARCUATA. Peters’ Chat-Thrush.
Dr. Peters first discovered this interesting bird near Sena in the
Zambesi country, and examples are contained in the British Museum
collection, having been procured in the same region by Dr. Kirk,
during the Livingstone expedition. I t extends far up the east
coast of Africa, having been met with by the late Captain Speke in
Unyamesi; and it is said to have a very beautiful so'ng. The