FRENCH CAMEROONS 161 
through the undergrowth. There are several species here—all 
being very minute and exquisite in color—and as they flit past the 
intense blue of the upper parts is most striking. Two of these 
species, although belonging to the kingfisher family, are fre- 
quently found far from water and never eat fish. They subsist 
mainly on grasshoppers and spiders, etc. In captivity they are difh- 
cult, but will thrive on small pieces of meat and live meal-worms, 
though they are very nervous little birds even when reared from 
the nest. Like many other insect-eating birds, they cast up pellets 
of the undigested portion of their food. 
At times there is something quite awesome about these vast 
equatorial forests, a feeling which is most acute, no doubt, when 
one is alone. The great height of the trees, the gloomy light, and 
occasionally the intense silence, combine to create an overbearing 
atmosphere. As one crawls along some animal track in a heavy 
damp atmosphere, one feels about the size of an ant and just as 
insignificant. 
One of the more educated natives of Eseka begged me not to 
go into the forest alone. He said that once a European naturalist 
had disappeared near here, and that the bush people were very 
rough, so that it was foolish for the white man to go into the 
forests unaccompanied. He was evidently terrified of the dark 
creepy atmosphere of the jungle, but as he was a townsman | 
knew that much of his fear was due to fantastic stories and super- 
stitions. Nevertheless, in view of his warning and being unarmed, 
I used quietly to conceal myself when I heard a number of natives 
coming towards me on a jungle path. 
In going through tropical forests and elsewhere, making ob- 
servations on the movements, feeding habits, and haunts of rare 
birds, silence is essential—there must be no talking. That is mainly 
why I prefer to go alone. I can stalk silently along in crépe-soled 
shoes, and stop instantly when any movement would mean dis- 
turbing the interesting creature I have just spotted. 
In the more open situations, weaver-birds were the commonest 
of the Cameroons avi-fauna, especially in the palm-growing dis- 
tricts. It is interesting to note how some birds have discovered that 
it is safer to live near human habitations than in wilder situations. 
