i83 



paired throughout the j^ear, and I think keep to the 

 same nest, a flat structure of sticks in the fork of a 

 tall tree, from season to season, merely adding to and 

 repairing it when necessary. At the commencement 

 of the breeding season (May) the courtship of a pair 

 is a common evening sight : the couple are perched 

 on the highest branches of some bare tree, preening 

 and fondling each other ; suddenly the cock takes a 

 short vertical flight upwards and hovers, (looking 

 when in the air exactly like one of those Chinese 

 bird-kites, which we used to play with), over his mate, 

 who sits with outspread wings and tail and upturned 

 head gazing up at liim, till he suddenly drops with 

 closed wings on to the branch close beside her to 

 continue his caresses, and then after a short interval 

 to repeat the performance again and again, till the 

 sudden darkness of the tropics comes down, or some 

 disturbing incident interrupts the lovemaking. 



CUCKOOS. Gambia has representatives of at 

 least four genera: (i) Centropiis, the Coucals ; (2) 

 Coccystes, the Spotted Cuckoos ; (3) Cucuhis, the 

 typical Cuckoos ; and (4) Chrysococcyx, the Golden 

 Cuckoos. 



(i) Our Coucal is Centropus se7iegalensis, a large 

 brown-winged bird about the size of a Jay, with 

 black head and throat and pale buff" underparts. Its 

 legs are strong and its toes, especially the hind one, 

 long and powerful, as befits a bird which spends the 

 greater part of its time on the ground. They are 

 found everywhere, perhaps in greater numbers in the 

 dry swamps than elsewhere, flapping slowly among 

 the bushes or running about the ground, and are so 

 tame and careless of man that they have gained the 

 name of " Foolish Bird,'' from the idiotic way they 

 have of offering themselves as targets at the closest 

 range to any one out with a gun. Their food consists 

 of lizards, small frogs and large insects. One I had 



