Biballa in Mossamodes; at the latter place it is called " Kikuan-
diata.”
Mr. W. Atmore informs us that it is not uncommon near Swellen-
dam, “ creeping about the decaying fences like our English Hedge-
sparrow.” Its actions in the trees and bushes reminded us of the
European Wren : its flight is in short jerks and undulating. The
eggs are white, spotted and blotched with brown and faint purple,
chiefly in the form of a ring at the obtuse end; axis 9 " '; diam.
6'" .
Adult,—General colour above ashy grey, the wing-coverts uniform
with the back: quills dark brown, externally edged with the same
ashy grey as the back, the innermost secondaries entirely of the
latter colour: tail ashy grey, slightly tipped with dull fulvous : lores
and a tolerably distinct eyebrow light tawny buff: in front of the eye
a dusky spot: ear-coverts tawny buff with narrow white shaft-lines :
cheeks and rest of under surface tawny buff, paler on the throat and
inclining to creamy buff on the centre of the abdomen : thighs deep
tawny as also the under tail-coverts : under wing-coverts tawny buff:
“ irides yellowish brown; upper mandible dusky, the under mandible
a purplish flesh colour, as also are the legs and toes” (Andersson).
Total length, 3’5 inches; culmen, 0’6 ; wing, 2-45 ; tail, l'O ; tarsus,
O’75.
Fig. Le Vaill. Ois. d’Afr. pi. 135.
290. S ylvia sal icae ia . Garden Warbler.
The Garden Warbler of Europe appears to make its way, during
its absence from that continent, to South-western Africa, for it has
been obtained by Senor Anchieta at Biballa and Huilla in Mossa-
medes. Mr. Andersson also procured it twice in Damara Land, and
among the birds discovered after Sir Andrew Smith’s death at his
house was a skin of a Garden Warbler, bearing the usual ticket
attached by him to birds obtained during the “ Expedition.” The
following is a description of the last-named specimen.
General colour above ashy brown, including the wings and ta il:
lores and a ring of feathers round the eye buffy white : ear-coverts
brown: cheeks and under surface of body dull whitish, the breast,
sides of body and thighs brown: under wing-coverts and axillaries
light orange buff. Total length, 6 inches; culmen, 0’5 ; wings, 3’1;
tail, 2’35; tarsus, 0’8.
Fig. Dresser, B. Eur. part liii.
Fam. NECTARINIID2E.
291. P romerops ca per . Cape Long-tailed Sun-bird.
This is one of the South African Birds which is entirely confined
to the Cape Colony, throughout the whole of which it appears to bo
distributed; it is abundant near Cape Town, and Captain Shelley
found it literally swarming on the Protea bushes at Mossel Bay.
Victorin records it from the Knysna district, but it becomes
gradually rarer as the eastern frontier of the colony is approached.
Mr. Rickard has procured it at Port Elizabeth, where it breeds, but
does not stay all the year; it is common when the red Protea is in
flower. This honey-eater differs considerably in all its habits from
the sun-birds with which it is associated. It is generally found in
small parties, the members of which, though acting much in concert,
still maintain their individuality. They follow one another to
favourite bushes, chase each other, or feed amicably side by side,
and if one is alarmed and flies off, the rest generally follow; yet they
cannot be called gregarious in the strict sense of the word. They
are fond of perching on the summit of high bushes, particularly
Proteacea, from the flowers of which they extract their food, consisting
of insects, and the limpid, saccharine juice which these plants
supply plentifully, and which will often run in a copious stream from
the bill of a fresh-killed specimen.
Le Vaillant’s account of the nesting habits is erroneous; Mr. L. C.
Layard procured a nest, which he assured us belonged to this bird,
cup-shaped, about three inches in diameter within, composed of
rootlets, grasses, and the spicular leaves of firs, mingled with the
silky, dark-orange seeds of the Protea. The single egg contained
in it instantly reminded us of that of the Bunting of England, being
a pale dirty cream-colour, irregularly though sparingly marked with
wavy tracery and hair-streaks, now and then inclining to blotches of
a dark purple-brown, or a pale indistinct purple: axis, 1 1 "; diam.,
8^". Subsequent discoveries of nests and eggs confirm the. truth of
the above observations. We found that they bred in the months
of May, June, and July. Mr. W. Atmore informs us that he has
found many nests, always cup-shaped, and placed in the fork of a
mimosa. A very good account of the habits of the present bird
from his own personal observations will be found in Captain Shelley’s
“ Monograph of the Sun-birds.”
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