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with the collectors' name who has obtained the bird, for although 

 we knovv more about the birds of Northern Nigeria than about 

 those of the Southern part of the Province, there is still much 

 to be learnt. Several small, and one or two large, collections hâve 

 been received at the British Muséum from Northern Nigeria and 

 hâve been incorporated in the main collection without any report 

 appearing upon them. Of the former, Dr Christy's and Mr Chur- 

 chill Bryant's collections and a number of spécimens collected 

 by the old Niger Expédition may be mentioned, while of the large 

 collections there are many birds collected bv Boyd Alexander 

 in 1904 during his famous journey from the Niger to the Nile, the 

 birds of which hâve, alas, never been thoroughly worked out. 



Of published material we hâve Shelley's report (1. c.) on the 

 birds collected by W. A. Forbes at Lukoja, Shonga, Egga, Rabba, 

 and Loko; Hartert's « Orn. Erg. einer Reise in den Niger-Benue- 

 Gebieten » (J. f. O., 1886, pp. 570-613); besides several other 

 less important papers. 



Having dealt' with the local distribution of each species, I hâve 

 given the extra-limital range of everv one mentioned, and finally 

 I hâve worked out the geographical races of every bird in the 

 Southern Nigérian collection, unless it has been worked out 

 recently to my satisfaction ; in this case T give a référence to the 

 latest review of the species. In numerous cases, where it has been 

 thought advisable, the distinguishing characters of the geographical 

 races hâve been mentioned. 



Particular attention has been paid to the races found in West 

 Africa from Sénégal to Northern Angola and the North Belgian 

 Congo, and in every case thèse forms hâve been listed. Those new 

 races which I hâve described will be found in the pages of the 

 Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club vol. XLI, XLTI, to 

 which référence is given in the foUowing pages. There are happily 

 very few. 



It may interest systematic workers on West African birds to 

 know that I hâve taken the opportunity, whilst working out the 

 Nigérian birds, to re-arrange the West African collections in the 

 British Muséum on the lines laid down in this paper; every species 



