66 Mr. R. B. Sharpe 07i Recent Collections of 



X. — On Recent Collections of Birds from the Fantee Country, in 

 Western Africa. By B.B. Sharpe^ F.L.S. &c., Librarian 

 to the Zoological Society of London. 



It is now more than a year since I last presented to the readers 

 of ' The Ibis ' any record of the collections which I have received 

 from Fantee. My indefatigable correspondent, Governor Ussher, 

 however, has taken the greatest pains to procure for me speci- 

 mens from this locality, and I am indebted to him for some 

 beautiful series of bird-skins. But as we have in preparation 

 a joint paper on the ornithology of the Gold Coast, which will 

 embody Mr. Ussher's notes on the habits of the birds of Fantee, 

 as observed by him during his long residence in Western Africa, 

 in addition to my own recent scientific investigations, I confine 

 myself in the present paper to a simple enumeration of such 

 species as are not included in my former lists'^. I must not 

 omit to mention my obligations to Captain Haynes, who gene- 

 rously placed at my disposal a very interesting collection of birds 

 formed by himself at Accra, and enriched my cabinet by pre- 

 senting me with some new and rare species. 



The number of species now recorded by me from Fantee is 

 271, being exactly 120 more than those collected by Pel, and re- 

 corded by Dr. Hartlaub (J. f. 0. 1855, p. 360). There are, how- 

 ever, in his list several birds which I have not yet seen ; and 

 there is no doubt that our knowledge of the avifauna of this 

 part of Africa will be greatly increased by future observers. 



As before, a dagger (f) is appended to all the names of such 

 species as I believe to be hitherto unrecorded from Fantee, and 

 the nomenclature employed is chiefly that of my ' Catalogue.* 

 Where this is not referred to, allusion is made to Dr. Hartlaub's 

 well-known work on the birds of Western Africa, or to Mr. G. R. 

 Gray's * Hand-list.' 



t205. Caprimulgus fossii, Verr. ; Finsch & Hartl., Vog. 

 Ost-Afr. p. 123, pi. 1 ; Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 2. 



Mr. Ussher has sent two specimens of this Goatsucker, which 

 he obtained in the vicinity of Cape Coast. 



* Vide Ibis, 18G9, pp. 180, 381 ; 1870, pp. 52, 470. 



