NIGERIA 



4234 



NIGHTINGALE 



Ages, but was not viewed by Kuropeans until 

 1790, when its upper coui> lured by 



Mini go Park. 



NIGERIA, nijc'ria, a British colony and 

 protectorate in West Africa, the boundaries of 

 which are formed by Dahomey, the French 

 Military Territories of the Sudan, Lake Chad, 

 Kamerun and the Gulf of Guinea (see colored 

 political map of Africa opposite page 81). Ni- 



i. formed by the consolidation in 1914 of 

 the protectorates of Northern and Southern 

 Nigeria, is a region covering about 336,000 

 square miles an area slightly less than that of 

 British Columbia. In the colony there are 

 about 17,000,000 people. The country along 

 the gulf coast is a great, swampy delta (see 

 Ni<,KKi ; north of this section there is a region 

 of dense forests, and north of the forest area 

 a plateau region that merges in the extreme 

 north with the desert lands of the Sudan. The 

 native tribes of the delta and the forests are 

 pure negroes, worshipers of the fetish (which 

 see). In Northern Nigeria the people repre- 

 sent -a mixture of races from the northern part 

 of the continent, and among them Moham- 

 medanism has gained a strong foothold. The 

 Kansas, the most advanced people of Nigeria, 

 live in the northern section. Under British con- 

 trol cannibalism, human sacrifices, slavery and 

 other evil practices of the coast tribes have been 

 eliminated. 



Southern Nigeria produces rubber, mahogany, 

 palm kernels and oil, also groundnuts, cotton, 



o, com, cassava and other tropical plants, 

 and from Northern Nigeria are obtained drugs, 

 ivory, sheepskins, goatskins and tin. At the 

 beginning of the War of the Nations there was' 

 a thriving import and export trade. Seagoing 

 ships can dock in the harbor of Lagos, the 

 principal port and seat of government. Inland 

 transportation is carried on by way of the Niger 

 and other streams, and. by means of several 

 carriage roads and nearly 1,000 miles of railroad. 

 The colony also has telephone, telegraph and 

 postal service. Politically, it is divided into 

 the Northern Provinces and the Southern Prov- 

 inces, each under a lieutenant-governor ap- 

 pointed by the British Crown. A governor- 

 general exercises central authority. 



Consult Morel's Nigeria, Its People and Its 

 Problems; Raphael's Through Unknoton Nigeria. 



NIGHT 'HAWK, a bird of the goatsucker 

 family, closely resembling the whip-poor-will, 

 but distinguished from it by conspicuous white 

 marks on its wings, a nasal note and a habit of 

 frequenting the open country, while the whip- 



poor-will keeps to the woods. It is about ten 

 inrh> long, ami measures twenty-three inches 

 when both wings are expanded. It has 

 .-oft, mottled black, white and buff plumage 

 and a noiseless flight, and feeds high in the air, 



THE NIGHTHAWK 



capturing night moths, mosquitoes and other 

 insects in great numbers, thus proving itself of 

 much value to the farmer. The belief that the 

 birds of this family suck goats is a mete super- 

 stition. 



The summer range of the nighthawk is East- 

 ern North America, from the Gulf states to 

 Labrador, and it winters in South America. Its 

 eggs, always two in number, are deposited upon 

 the bare ground. They are of a dull white 

 color, marked with irregularly-shaped grayish- 

 brown blotches. This bird is active only at 

 night. See WHIP-POOR-WILL. 



NIGHT HERON, a medium-sized heron which 

 remains quiet throughout the day, beginning 

 its activities at sunset. There are several spe- 

 cies, found in most parts of the world except 

 the far northern regions. The American black- 

 crowned night heron, commonly called the 

 quawk, from its cry, nests in colonies from Mani- 

 toba and New Brunswick southward through 

 South America. Its nest is built of sticks, 

 sometimes in the tops of trees, and sometimes 

 in bushes or on the ground. The eggs, four to 

 six in number, are of a dull blue color. This 

 bird is about two feet long. Its characteristic 

 markings arc the black head and back, grayish 

 tail and wings and white throat, breast and 

 forehead; in the spring three long white feath- 

 ers hang down from its crown. The night her- 

 ons feed on fishes, frogs and other water ani- 

 mals. See HERON. 



NIGHTINGALE, a small bird of the thrush 

 family, plain in appearance and shy in habits, 

 but having a song of the sweetest quality, often 

 heard at night. It has been lauded by poets 

 of all centuries for its exquisite voice, and the 

 finest tribute that could have been paid to 

 Jenny Lind, the greatest singer of two genera- 



