-^ Fauna : Birds 



Mr. Maitland Pye-Smith in March, 1905. An account of this 

 bird is given by Mr. Chubb in the appendix. This web-footed 

 wading bird, related to woodcocks and snipe, is usually an 

 inhabitant of northern — not to say Arctic — regions, and its 

 occurrence in Africa had never been noted before. It was 



-=?^ 



297. THE YELLOVV-WATTLKD SPUR-WINGED PLOVER (XIPHIDOPTERUS ALBICEPS) 



therefore remarkable to find it so far afield as Equatorial 

 Liberia — a belated winter visitor, of course. 



Most of the West African types of the rail order are found 

 in this country, amongst them the aberrant and peculiar finfoot 

 {^Podica senegalensis). This is a bird the size of a duck, with 

 a whitish breast and belly. The upper parts are brown, of 

 various shades, with a greenish black gloss on the shoulders 



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