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though the last time I saw him he was still unable to fly, 

 having never recovered from the effects of the rough 

 wing-clipping he received at the hands of the native 

 who brought him to me. There is another bird which 

 I think is also Corvine, the Pie-pie of Bathurst boys, 

 of which I believe the scientific name is Cryptorhina 

 afra. This bird, which looks very like, and in habit 

 much resembles, a large black Starling, is very common 

 in Bathurst, and to a less extent in the towns farther 

 inland. It congregates in small parties and feeds on 

 insects round cattle or sheep, or on offal in the streets 

 and yards. Its plumage is glossy black with a dullish 

 green sheen, and the sexes are alike, except that the 

 cock has a red, and the hen a black beak. 



TITS. We have only a single species of this 

 family in Gambia, Parus leucomelas, a black bird about 

 the size of our Great Tit, with a white wing-patch, 

 which so far I only remember to have seen once, 

 namely at Quinella on the South Bank, though I am 

 told that it is quite a common bird here. 



DRONGOS are to be seen everywhere, the com- 

 monest species (in fact the only one I know), being 

 Dicrurus afer, a black bird about the size of a Cow- 

 bird with a slightly forked tail. They are very tame 

 fly-catching birds, which are seen everywhere, perched 

 on a bush or small tree, making frequent excursions 

 into the air or to the ground to catch passing insects. 



SHRIKES. Gambia, like all West Africa, is very 

 rich in Shrikes, many of which are everywhere com- 

 mon. I am afraid I do not know the family well 

 enough to be sure of my ground in the matter of 

 identification, as indeed my readers must remember 

 throughout this article. I am not conversant enough 

 with the science of ornithology to have more than a 

 rough idea as to the different species, and so in this 



