of Birds in Southeim Kamerun. 559 



authors, in wliich it is said of such and such a bird that 

 it breeds in such and such a mouth. A conclusion is 

 drawn, for example, from the fact that a bird has been 

 found not breeding in August, and another of the same 

 species breeding in September, that the breeding-season 

 of this species begins in September. With the idea that 

 there must be definite seasons in the life of the birds here, 

 I set out, several years ago, to find out what those seasons 

 were, by keeping a record of the condition of the breeding- 

 organs of the birds which I examined. But when, after a 

 time, I tried to arrange these observations and draw up 

 conclusions, order failed to appear. The more observations 

 I made, the more the confusion increased. When I had 

 details for only a few examples of a certain species recorded, 

 it often looked as if I had found a breeding-season for that 

 species. But further observations nearly always contradicted 

 those previous to them, and it became evident that there was 

 great irregularity in the times of breeding. 



Thus I had to give up the hope of establishing definite 

 breeding-seasons for the birds of Kamerun in general. But 

 still it seemed worth while to go on with the record, to see if I 

 could find some groups or species that formed exceptions to the 

 general irregularity, or to ascertain in some birds a preference 

 for one season over another, denoted by a greater number 

 of instances of breeding in that season. And if nothing 

 more were shown, still it would be worth while to establish 

 firmly the fact that the birds of the forests of Southern 

 Kamerun have no distinct breeding-seasons, but that each 

 pair performs its functions in its own time, without 

 reference to others of the species, and without reference to 

 season. 



So two or three years ago I began to keep a fuller record 

 than before. I put down in my note-books the condition 

 of the sex-organs not only of the birds skinned, but of 

 many also that were thrown away, including such as were 

 too badly injured for specimens, and such as were brought 

 to me in too great numbers by native boys who caught 

 them with their snares. I recorded also the dates of nests 



