Birds of Southern Kamerun. 39 



two dozen. They have not often been heard to use their 

 voices, but I have detected faint little cries, like feeble 

 imitations of the ringing " kwang " of the chief of their 

 family. Their quick flight in perfect unison, with their 

 long tails all pointing the same way, reminded me of a lot 

 of little fishes darting in a clear stream. 



The boy who shot my last two specimens, a breeding male 

 and a breeding female, said that there were a number of them 

 about a dead tree-trunk that had holes in it, like the holes 

 of the Ovol {Gymnobucco). 



They eat the same fruits as the other Starlings. The 

 colour of the iris is bright yellow. 



1312. Malimbus nitens. [Nga'a-minkan.] 

 Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 352. 



In the great forest, which reaches its fullest development 

 in the hilly country around Efulen, the path of the hunter 

 often leads him over the pebbly bed of a stream, where he 

 wades through the clear water and dodges the overhanging 

 branches and vines. Attached to these overhanging branches, 

 not much higher than his head over the water of the brook, 

 he often sees Weavers' nests, in size and structure much like 

 those of the common village Hijphantornis, but woven of 

 different materials — long rootlets or runners, such as would 

 be found in the forest. These are the nests of Malimbus 

 nitens. They are nearly always empty, for the builders 

 never seem to use them but once, and are always seeking 

 some new and more retired spot. There is never more than 

 one nest in a place. The only egg I ever found has already 

 been described (' Ibis,' 1908, p. 352). 



1313. Malimbus cassini. [Nga'a-minkan.] 

 Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 352. 



No. 104-9. ? ad. In 'The Ibis' (I.e.) this specimen has 

 been put under Melanopteryx nigerrimus. Though the 

 plumage is perfectly black, the bird differs from the adulc male 

 of Melanopteryx nigerrimus in the following particulars : — Bill 

 slenderer and at the same time shorter (culmen 15*5 mm.), 

 in Melanopteryx nigerrimus the culmen is never less than 



