NIGHTJARS 173 



Butterflies appear to be eaten by Melittophagus, for 

 I have found on the ground, under a grass stem on which 

 one had been sitting, wings of the Httle yellow Terias 

 butterflies, although I have not actually witnessed the 

 capture in this case. 



Another group of birds allied to the Rollers may be 

 dismissed in a few words, namely, the Wood hoopoes 

 {Irrisorinae), for I have never met with them on the 

 islands, and first saw them when on active service in 

 German East Africa. 



Such noisy and conspicuous birds could hardly have 

 escaped notice had they been on the islands, and when I 

 returned in 1918 they were watched for, but never seen. 



The family of Goatsuckers, or Nightjars, is represented 

 on the islands by a species of Caprimulgus, whose native 

 name is " Olubugabuga," presumably an attempt to 

 reproduce one of the noises that it makes. On moonlit 

 nights, when owls are also heard, these birds keep up a 

 continual " Tok-tok-tok-tok-tok," varied occasionally by 

 the melodious cry from which their name is derived. 



The bird itself is often flushed during tday time from its 

 resting place in places that may sometimes be quite open 

 and fully exposed to the hot sun, or sometimes shaded and 

 among bracken. There is nothing about the bird to call 

 for remark, unlike the East African species with long 

 floating plumes, which has not been met with on the 

 islands. 



It is, of course, highly probable that there is more than 

 one nightjar on the islands, but I am familiar with only 

 one cry. 



We now come to the great order of Passeriformes, 

 embracing large numbers of small birds, which I must 

 perforce pass over in silence, not being sufficiently familiar 

 with the comparatively inconspicuous species. 



Certain species, however, call for notice, and first 

 among them are the Flycatchers (Muscicapidae), of which 



