310 Birds of Gambia. 



Birds of Gambia. 



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



j (Contimwd from pagje 254). 



STRIGIDAE. 



Owls aro here, as in other countries, 'birds of ill oraen. 

 This perhaps more particulai'ly applies to the big Grey Eagle- 

 Owl, -which besides its general reputation as a bird of woe is 

 believed by the natives to possess weird powers as well— powers 

 which will ensure a dreadful fate, probably within the year, over- 

 taking any man who is rash enough to kill one. I j-emember 

 one year my native dresser mistaking one in the dim light of an 

 early dawn for a roosting Guineafowl, and under this impression 

 shooting it; great was his dismay when he realised what he h^ad 

 bagged, fear was writ largely on his face. However, after a few 

 days he became more cheerful, and no doubt by then had purged 

 his ofl'ence by the performance of tlie ritual proper for such an 

 occasion, accompanied, one may be sure, by the disbursement of 

 the necessary sum of money to some person able to counteract 

 the malign influence of the slaughtered owl. 



Asio capensis. AFRICAN EARED OWL. 



Range. Tropical Africa; North Africa. Spain (H.L). 



A dark brown bird with pale under surface spotted with 

 brown on the abdomen; it has small ear-tlufts and black rings 

 round the eyes, while the rest of the face is brownish grey. 

 Length about 14^ inches. The only example I have seen wild 

 was one which got up in front of the beat-ers one day when we 

 were shooting in the big game swamps at Salikenni; in 1908 

 also a friend of mine had one for some time in a cage in Bathurst. 



Glaucidium perlatum. AFRICAN PIGMY OWL. 



Range. West, South, and North-east Africa. 



A small earless Owl, whose general colour is light brown 

 spotted with white above and whitish mottled with brown below. 

 Its length is seven inches, and its irides are bright yellow. A 

 small Owl, which I am nearly siire is this species, is not at all 

 uncommon here. One frequently sees it abroad in the daylight, 

 even in bright sunlight. 



Scops leucotis. WHITE-EARED SCOPS OWL. 



Range. Tropical Africa. (H.L.) 



The commonest small Owl of this country. I have had 

 two alive on different occasions, and there are now in the Zoo a 

 pair which were caught in Bathurst last year. Their general colour 

 is grey streaked with black, while their most conspicuous features 

 are the black and white facial marks. In length they measure 

 7 inches. Their note is a soft hoot, rather resembling the cooing 

 of a Dove. 



Bubo cinerascens. GREY EAGLE-OWL. 



Rxjnge. North-east and West Africa. 



This Eagle-Owl, about the same size as the European species 



