to the Cape Verde Islands. Ill 



and then commenced to feed^ without changing their position. 

 Our guide mumbled a prayer in his hat ; a minute later, 

 however, they saw us, and then a slow march towards a 

 common base, where their leader stood erect, was executed, 

 a manoeuvre soon followed by a general uprising amid goose- 

 like croalcs. In the middle distance the white of their 

 plumage disappeared, leaving visible only the rose-coloured 

 bands on their wings, like a long streak of feathery cloud at 

 sunset. Soon their white plumage showed out again as they 

 steered once more towards the sandy coast, where a general 

 settling took place some two miles ahead of us. / After this 

 we repaired to the village, where a house was placed at our 

 disposal for the night. 



XIV. List of the Birds of Boavista. 



1. Neophron percnopterus. 



2. buteo vulgaris. 



The only specimen we procured was an immature male. 

 Both this one and the female obtained on Santiago are small. 



Adult female (Santiago) : wing 14"9 inches, length 20"4, 

 Immature male (Boavista) : wing 13"5 inches, length 20*43 . 

 Measured in the flesh. 



3. MiLVUS MIGRANS. 



4. Falco neglectus. 



5. Pandion halia'ktus. 



Breeds sparingly in suitable localities. On the small 

 island opposite Sal Rei we found a nest of this bird built 

 on a rock at sea. It was an enormous structure, bits of shell 

 and seaweed forming the lining. 



6. CORVUS UMBRINUS. 



Very numerous, coming together in large flocks every 

 evening and blackening with their bodies the sides of the 

 sandhills, where they roost for the night. 



7. Sylvia conspicillata. 



8. Passer jagoensis. 



