on the Pigeons of the Gambia.



35



best, sometimes the other. Just before the rains the flesh of the

“Black Pigeon” is often very bitter and unpalatable, apparently

due to the fact that they are then largely feeding on “ hira ” fruit

—small, bitter berries of a small swamp-side tree. At other times,

however, Pigeon enters largely into the Protectorate officials’ menu,

and they are pretty good evidence, as previously noted, that there is

nothing in the old saying, “ A man cannot eat a Pigeon every day

for a fortnight.” Very few days pass from November to June without

Pigeon (or Pigeons) appearing on the table in some form or other.


These Pigeons make the usual ramshackle pigeon-nest in

small trees and thorny shrubs, or in those places where a certain

kind of dwarf palm grows, in clefts where the leaf-stalks branch out

from the main trunk. They are usually about 12 ft. from the

ground. Two white eggs are the clutch. The nesting period, I

think, is from about March till July —that is, during the end of the

dry season — and is well over before the heavy rains commence.


The Mandingo name of this Pigeon is “ Bita-fing,” from their

note, which is syllabised by them as “ Biti, biti, biti-finn,” and from

the colour (fing = “ black ”). The more imaginative among them

make a story about the call, and say that the cock is always scolding

at his wife because her extravagance is always bringing him into

court, and to their ears he says, “ Lung-o-lung futa kiti, lung-o-lung

futa kiti; Talata nongkong te’mfe ” (in English, “ Every day the court

is ready ; by Tuesday I haven’t sixpence ”). This in print, I must say,

does not look very promising as a rendering of a Pigeon’s note, but

pronounced (as the natives do it) in a sort of throaty whisper, it is

quite suggestive of the call, though not so actually like it as the

“ Biti-fin ” phrase, or as is the syllabisation which appeals most to

my ears — “ Too-too : tutta-tutt-too.” In addition to this call, they

also have a shorter sort of throaty chuckle. This the natives say,

however, is that of the hen — her laughing answer to her husband’s

complaints. I do not know whether this is really so or not.


The following is a description of an adult shot in March:

Crown and whole head blue-grey ; a half-collar of black on the neck ;

back dark grey; wing-coverts slaty, darker externally; flights dark

brown with narrow pale edges; tail dark grey, almost black, all the

feathers except the central pair tipped with bluish-white, the area of



