38 Mr. G. L. Bates — Field-Notes on the 



these birds go away at certain seasons^ but find this to be a 

 mistake. 



No. 2693, a sitting female of this species, was caught by 

 a boy in its hole one evening in August. The hole was 

 described as a large knot-hole in a living tree, only a few- 

 feet from the ground, but in a marsh (" ^ngas " — see under 

 Centropus monachus above, p. 13). The boy brought a rough, 

 flat nest, composed entirely of leaf-petioles, which he said 

 he took from the bottom of the hollow, and two eggs ; 

 these measured 31'5 x 245 mm. and 31 x 24 mm. 



[Two eggs are of a regular oval shape and almost devoid 

 of gloss, the whole shell being somewliat rough to touch 

 and slightly pitted. The ground-colour is pale greenish- 

 blue, sparingly marked all over with spots and blotches of 

 pale reddish-brow^u and lilac-grey. — O.-G.] 



1264. Lamprocolius purpureiceps Verr. [Kwang- 

 Metondo.] 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 356. 



This species is called in Bulu from the name of the small 

 tree on the fruit of which it is fond of feeding. It is a 

 rather retiring and quiet bird, never seen in numbers except 

 in the wild fruit-trees where it feeds, and seldom using its 

 voice, though I have heard it make what seemed a feeble 

 imitation of the clanging call of its larger and more con- 

 spicuous relative. 



One day in June, near Efulen, I saw two of these birds 

 repeatedly enter a high knot-hole, coming every time from 

 the limb of a large tree, where there may have been lichens 

 or moss ; they were evidently building. I shot one (I am 

 almost ashamed to say) and it proved to be a breeding male 

 (No. 819). Two days after two more birds were seen to 

 enter the same hole, and one was seen to have a little stick 

 in its bill. Had the female w'hom my shot left a widow got 

 another mate so soon ? 



1287. P(EOPTERA LUGUBRis. [Mboyom.] 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 356. 



These birds are most frequently seen in flocks of about 



