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chatter and less of a scream than that of the Ring- 

 neck, while when tame they are as quiet as any Parrot 

 ever is. 



The third species is a much larger bird, being 

 about twice the size of the Senegal. Its most striking 

 feature is its enormously strong beak, which is very 

 noticeable even a distance, and which looks as if 

 it could just as easily nip off a finger as crack a nut. 

 The natives assure me that the bird requires this 

 strength of beak, in order to open cocoa-nuts, but this 

 story I more than suspect to be on a par with many 

 of their animal anecdotes. 



Its general colour above and below is dull green, 

 with a grey head and a patch of reddish-orange on 

 the shoulder, another smaller one on the finger, and a 

 narrow ring of similarly-coloured feathers round the 

 leg. In some individuals the rump is bright Kingfisher 

 blue, in the others bright grass-green, the latter I 

 believe being the cocks. This is contrary to what 

 one would expect, but the only specimen (shot by a 

 friend the other day), which I have been able to 

 examine was a green-backed bird, and I am practically 

 certain (from dissection) a cock. A similar sexual 

 difference in plumage has also, I believe, been proved 

 to exist in a similar bird from other parts of Africa. 



This bird is a much rarer bird in the Gambia than 

 either of the other two, and I rather think that it is 

 confined to the North Bank of the River, as I never 

 saw one all the time I was out here in 1902, when I was 

 mostly on the South Bank. In the part of the country 

 where I am now, the North Bank, one sees about two 

 or three parties of them in a week. They usually go 

 about in pairs (I have sometimes seen four together, 

 never more), are much shyer and fly higher than the 

 Senegals, and have a much more raucous note. The 

 natives say they do not breed here, but leave for the 

 East about March, returning again in the following 



