283 



By Dr. E. Hopkinson, D.S.O. 



INCE I have been in West Africa I have had as 

 pets one or two rather uncommon species, — 

 uncommon that is as cage birds, — a short 

 account of which may interest our readers. 



One of the first of these was a Senegal Coucal 

 ("Foolish Bird" or "Reed-bird" as they are called 

 here) which my boys caught one day in the kitchen- 

 hut, and which soon settled down to cage-life, thriving 

 well (until his escape a month or six weeks later) in a 

 good-sized packing-case cage. At first I fed him on 

 live locusts, grasshoppers, and any other large insects 

 which could be easily obtained ; then I got him on to- 

 dead food, such as mice and bats, both of which he 

 soon became very fond of, and before long he would 

 eat almost anything in the shape of animal matter,, 

 such as raw or cooked meat, chicken-lights and other 

 kitchen refuse. He got tame in a wonderfully short 

 time, but in spite of that I can hardly give him a good 

 character as a cage-bird, as his diet is likely to make 

 him a smelly and unpleasant pet indoors, and his loose 

 plumage is easily soiled and roughened, so that he 

 soon loses the few good looks he may have originally 

 possessed. 



These birds, which belong to the family Ce?iiro- 

 podincs, the I,ark-heeled Cuckoos or Coucals, are 

 extremely common in the Gambia ; in fact one may 

 say that wherever one may be or wherever one may 

 look, a pair or more is sure to be in sight. They are 

 all remarkably tame birds, having but little fear of 

 man, of whose presence they hardly take any notice 

 as they hop heavily about the bushes or among the 

 long grass, searching for the insects and reptiles on 

 which they feed. In colour they are chestnut above, 

 with black head and tail, while their underparts are a 



