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no means the case : altliougli the interior, or rather 

 the two young ones from the interior, were dirty and 

 evil smelling; and no doubt the exterior would have 

 been as bad, if it was not so frequently and thoroughly 

 washed down by the almost daily rain of the season, 

 which comes down in sheets that almost clean up 

 iui ordinary native town, much more so, therefore, 

 the trifling mess a few small birds can make. 



Our other Wood - Hoopoe is Scoptelus aterrimus, 

 but this bird I do not know, or have not recognised it, 

 if I have seen it, (as no doubt I have, since it is said 

 to be fairly common). 



Next come the HORNBILLS {BiicerotidcE), which 

 are represented in Gambia by four species, three of 

 which are common, namely the large Ground Horn- 

 bill and two smaller species. 



The first-named, Biicorvus abyssiiiiais, is a bird 

 about the size of a goose, though when alive on the 

 ground or on the wing, it looks much bigger, in fact, 

 absolutely enormous, and whenever I come on a pair 

 of them stalking sedately over the plain, I am always 

 reminded of the Dodo— its pictures, of course, I mean. 

 These Ground-Hornbills are dark brown clumsy- 

 looking birds with a white wing-patch, which however 

 is only noticeable when they spread their wrings , 

 their cheeks are naked and of a fleshy-red colour, as 

 is also the turkey-like pouch which hangs from the 

 chin. They are usually found in pairs walking about 

 the dry swamps, but in the early morning one not 

 infrequently comes on a flock of twenty or more 

 feeding altogether in the fields and clearings, and on 

 these occasions they are much less shy, and allow one 

 to approach much nearer before they fly away, than 

 they do later on in the day — when they are much 

 more wary and keep well out of gunshot, stalking 

 slowly away as one tries to approach, and only taking 



