26l 



young from snakes and other beasts of the bush, 

 which naturally avoid ihe interiors of villages. About 

 half a dozen pairs share each nest, which is thus an 

 avine tenement-dwelling; the mass of twigs, etc. 

 which forms each one is often three or four ieet across, 

 being added to year by year, and has several tunnels 

 leading into its interior, each to a separate chamber, 

 in which the eggs of each pair are laid. The nests 

 are used throughout the year as roosting places. The 

 eggs are dirly white streaked with grey. 



Of the finches of Gambia, I only know the nest 

 of two species : the Green Singing Finch {Serinus 

 icterus) and the Grey-headed Sparrow {Passer diffususy, 

 the latter of which builds an untidy nest of grass, 

 wool, or any available building material in holes in 

 stone walls, or roofs of houses, and also in trees. The 

 eggs are pale buff with dark markings of the same 

 colour. 



The Green Singing Finch makes an open cup- 

 shaped nest in a bush in gardens and other more or 

 less cultivated places; the outside is composed of 

 fairly stiff short grass plaited into a main wall of softer 

 and longer pieces, the inner lining of which is a 

 smooth felted layer of very fine grass, small feathers 

 and hair. The eggs are pale blue with a few small 

 brown spots at larger end. 



The nests of the other Gambian birds of these two 

 families I do not know at present, but hope as time 

 goes on to come across at least some of them. The 

 birds omitted are the Common Waxbill, the Vina- 

 ceous Firefinch, the Magpie Mannikin, the Cutthroat, 

 the Red-billed Weaver, the Napoleon Bishop, the 

 Pintailed Whydah, the Grey Singing Finch, the Rock 

 Sparrow, and one or two rarer species. 



