49 



presence of a far more imminent danger than the 

 harmless man, at whose approach they rose. 



THE FINCHES. The two Serins, the Green 

 and the Grey Singing Finches, are very common, the 

 former usually in flocks of about a dozen or more 

 feeding in the long grass in the fields, the latter in 

 smaller flocks preferring bushy country or small 

 trees. The Green Singing Finch, the "Canary" of 

 Bathurst boys, is the only bird one sees as a caged 

 pet in this country, except for the occasional cageful 

 of Waxbills, etc., which some more than usually enter- 

 prising individual ma}^ have collected to dispose of 

 to the skipper of one of the French steamers which 

 frequently visit this port. 



Two Sparrows are common ; one about as large as 

 our House-Sparrow, but with a grey head and red- 

 brown wings (Passer diff'tcsiis'), which is usually met with 

 round the native towns iu company with Firefinches 

 and Combassous. It has none of the impertinent 

 tameness of our bird, but on the other hand is some- 

 what retiring, so much so that although I have at 

 home one of this species, which I have had for five or 

 six 3^ears, I never till recently recognised that the 

 same species was quite a common Gambian bird, but 

 always considered that my bird was an East African 

 species, as I believe he reached England by an Indian 

 boat. Our other Sparrow is a smaller bird, one of the 

 Rock Sparrows (the lesser Peironia dentata) which is 

 generally seen in flocks feeding on the ground 

 in fairly open country, and is much more common 

 near Bathurst and along the coast than farther 

 inland. Its general colour consists of various 

 shades of dull brown, the head in the adult cock, 

 however, being grey; while in the young, and also, 

 I think, in the adult hen, the head is brown like the 

 back, with a distinct fawn eyebrow, of which there 

 is no sign in the adult. I have watched a change taking 



