Z?/;v7.s' a I Gamhia. 43 



'Phis Hviary was coiisd-urted too laiu in tlio auluinn to 

 i^'ivo the l)ii'ds any chance of nesting', ).)ut as this is one of 

 tlie most natui-al of my avia,i'ies I am ho])in.g' to do well in 

 it this coming season. 



The above ground ])lan indicates tliis in a measure, 

 It- .is spacious, (^ontains a )'unning stream, and many jdants 

 and shrubs, and certainly ought to give good results. 



Birds of Gambia. 



By E. HoPKiNsox, D.S.O., M.A., M.B. 



Cdiil'niiirtl from pdijc 13. 



COLUAIBIDAE. 



Pigeons and Doves are extremely plentiful here, forming 

 a large proportion of the comarmly seen birds and taking an almost 

 larger share in one's ordinary bush menus. 



Vlnago nndiroslris. (.rUEKX fMGEON. 



HaiKje. Senegamf)ia; North-east and East Afi'ica. (H.L.) 



These lovely Emit Eigeons, clad in green, golden yellow 

 and mauve, are common all the yeai' round and are good to eat as 

 tliey ai-e to look upon. They are wandei'ing ]>irds, going ahout in 

 parties and moving from place to place, as the dilfei'cnt fruit-trees 

 on which they feed ripen. At the beginning of the rainy season a 

 more delinite migration occurs, and large Hocks, consisting almost 

 entirely of young l)irds, pass over I3athurst, travelling more or less 

 northward up the coast. These flights continue for about a week 

 or a fortnight and then cease till the end of the rains, when again 

 Green Pigeons are seen passing over Jiathurst, but in much smaller 

 numbers. With us most of them commence to breed about April, 

 —by the middle of Afay there are always numbers of young about — 

 but some must nest much earlier, as some young are about quite 

 early in April. I have shot young Green Pigeons as early as April 

 10, and once found a nest as earlj' as the second of that month, 

 while I also have a note in 190i) that a female shot on Eebruary 

 3 dropped a fully formed egg. The nest is the most flinrsy structure 

 possible, consisting merely of a few twigs and rootlets twisted to- 

 gether to form such a bare apology for a nest, that one wonders 

 however the eggs can remain in position and safety; they can 

 always be easily seen from below. When the youiig are liatched 

 they maintain their hold in the nest, which they are so quickly and 

 constantly outgrowing, by automatically gripping with their feet 

 one of the leaf-twigs to which the nest is fixed. This clutch is a 

 very powerful one, and I should think quite instinctive and passive. 

 The habit of holding tight to the perch persists in the young for 

 long after they leave the nest, so that when one is shot from a tree^ 



