packed about., and around, and upon each other, that with tlio
additional weight which a stormy wot day supplied, the trees gave
way and fell to the earth, aud an awful smash of eggs and young
birds bore witness to the melancholy result. However, this ill wind
proved to be a windfall for the ants, as they had a great feast upon
the broken eggs and young ones. On another occasion these birds,
for some reason or other, were too late in commencing their nests,
and it so happened that before their young were fully fledged the
locusts began to leave the neighbourhood, most of the f voet
gangers3 had thrown off their working jackets and resumed the
‘ imago3 state. I t was easy work for the birds to follow them at
first and bring back a sufficient supply of food to their nests, but as
the locusts day after day winged their flight towards the interior,
they found the task a difficult one; still for some days they succeeded
in keeping their young alive, but the winged swarms of locusts
travelled so fast that the birds were beaten in this great struggle for
life, and were compelled to abandon their nests, leaving the halffledged
young ones to their sad fate; and to save themselves from a
similar one, flew after the locust swarms that were leaving the
colony. I t seems unnatural for any animal to desert its young, and
I have frequently seen birds risk their lives for the sake of their
nests, but in the above-mentioned case, no blame nor want of natural
affection could be attached to the locust birds—they did all that they
possibly could under the circumstances—for, excepting the locust
swarms, no other source remained by which so great a multitude
could be supplied with food/’*
” In the Transvaal,” writes Mr. Ayres, “ they are only found at
Potchefstroom during the winter months, from April to November,
when they occur both singly and also in companies ranging in
number from three up to a hundred or more.” Mr. T. E. Buckley
shot a male in Bamangwato on the 28th of August, 1873, which was
then beginning to get the bare throat; it was also obtained by the
late Mr. Frank Oates on the Tati River, and as high as the Rama-
queban. I t extends all along the east coast of the continent into
North-eastern Africa.
In South-west Africa the Wattled Starlings appear in Damara
* W e h a v e h e a r d o f a similar incident occurring with the other locust b ird,
Glareola norimanni, when a whole hill-side covered with nests containing young
b i r d s w a s d e s e r t e d .
and Great Namaqua Land about the beginning of theramy season,
mostly leaving again upon the return of the dry, but Mr. An ersson
suspected that a few pairs occasionally remained a n d bred, as young
birds are to be found throughout the year. He gives the food as
consisting of worms, berries, and insects, chiefly small coleopt&ra.
Mr. Frank Oates also found beetles and sand in the stomach of one
specimen which he shot, and beetles and grasshoppers m another.
It has been procured by Senor Anchieta at Humbe on the Gtrnene
River, and on the River Oorooa.
General colour, cinereous; shoulder and upper part of wings, white;
rest of wing and tail black, or dark brown, with green reflections.
Mr Ayres gives the soft parts as follows : - “ Iris very light brown;
bill pale on the upper, and pink on the lower mandible; the bare skin
about the eye (which in some examples extends over the occiput), hg it
yellow; wattles about the head and chin, black; tarsi and feet pa e.
The female differs in not having the naked head, the latter bemg o
the same colour as the back. Length, 8" 6'"; wing, 4" 6'"; tail, 2 1 .
Fig. Le Vaill. Ois. d’Afr. pis. 93, 94.
403. L amfrotornis m ev e s i, Wahlb. Meves’ Glossy Starling.
The members of the genus Lamprotorms differ from those of
Lamprocolius in their elongated tails.
Meves5 Glossy Starling was discovered by the late Professor
Wahlberg in Damara Land, where also Mr. Andersson procured it
at Ovaquenyama in June aud July, 1867. Seuor Anchieta has met
with it at Humbe, and the late Mr. Frank Oates obtained a male bird
on the Nata River during his journey to the Victoria Falls on the 5th
of December, 1874.
General colour purplish and violet, including the throat and
breast the lower breast and abdomen coppery with violet reflections;
lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts coppery, slightly
shot with reddish violet; wing-coverts like the back; quills
blackish, externally purplish or violet blue; tail-feathers violet
blue, shot with purple and plainly barred under certain lights; tail
and legs black; iris hazel (Andersson). Total length, 14 inches;
culmen, 0‘5 ; wing, 6-15; tail, 8‘8; tarsus, 1*4.
405. L amprotornis pu r pu r eu s , Socage. Bocage5s Glossy Starling.
This specimen was discovered by Senor Anchieta in Mossamedes