394 ZOO-GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES, birds of passage belong to this class. It will therefore suffice if I refer to the Poliornis rufipennis, Strick., a bird of prey ; to Hurystomus, Merops, Hyphantornis and Euplectes, besides Chrysococcyx and Oxylophus, and many waders. It will be more interesting to call to mind a variety which periodically disperses to the south as well as to the north, such as Coturnia Delegorquet, Delg. Like many other birds, this elegant quail seems to have its proper abode in the district lying between the lakes, for I was able to collect specimens of it there all through the year, both hatching their eges and also as young and fully grown birds. Their proper home may be considered to lie between the third parallels of latitude on either side of the equator; from this region however, large flocks start on their migrations to the north and south ; to the north when the summer rains clothe the steppes with verdure and food is not wanting for the young ones, to the south when the country in the north is bare and scorched, and when in their proper home a scarcity of seeds arises from a short period of repose in the vegetation. So we find these birds in February in South Africa, even beyond the 25th parallel, while in September they collect in Kordofan under 14° N. lat. Turnix lepurana, Sm., also seems to make rather distant migrations. But, with regard to all these movements, it must be remembered that though large numbers of the birds mentioned leave their proper haunts for certain periods, as many individuals and pairs remain behind as can find subsistence without too much difficulty. And herein lies the chief difference between such local wanderings and those of the real birds of passage from other continents, which change their quarters temporarily and periodically without leaving behind any individuals of their kind except those that are sick or incapable of long flights. Moreover, these movements among our birds are almost exclusively confined to the inhabitants of the brushwood and the steppe, while the occupants of the real forests never change their dwellings, at least with very few exceptions.

Now, while we cannot speak of real migrations among our indigenous feathered tribes, Europe and Asia send us a considerable number of guests; many of them remain in the northern part of the continent, but a large number reach the