96 INTRODUCTION. 



take their flight southward and return to Senegal 

 after a temporary residence on the plains of Southern 

 Africa. This fact was conjectured by Le Yaillant, 

 and it is fully confirmed hy our own investigations, 

 drawn from the specimens that have been recently 

 imported from Senegal and Senegambia. Hitherto 

 this fact only regards the splendid genus Lampro- 

 tornis, which may be called the African starlings ; 

 but future information will, no doubt, shew us that 

 a southern migration takes place in other instances. 

 It may be questioned, however, whether any of the 

 Senegal birds go northward, excepting those more 

 peculiar to the banks of the Gambia, which are 

 likewise found in Britain, and the two or three 

 species of perchers, formerly noticed as extending 

 to Northern Africa and Central Europe*. Adanson 

 asserts that our house-swallow is the same as that 

 of Senegal ; but we have no means of judging the 

 accuracy of the statement. 



The first peculiarity that strikes us in contem- 

 plating the ornithology of Senegal, is the great pre- 

 ponderance of richly coloured birds. Now this 

 circumstance may be accounted for in two ways. 

 Either it is the result of commercial speculation 

 among the dealers, who imagine that such birds 

 will find a better market in Europe than those of a 

 more homely plumage ; or it is a real peculiarity, 

 and therefore arising from natural laws. We believe 

 this latter to be the true reason. In the following 

 pages we shall have to describe a very considerable 

 * Merops Europseus. 



