490 Mr. G. L. Bates on the 



Tyaipamstuia tympanistria. [Odu.] 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 94; 1905, p. 4G4; 1907, p. 420. 



In tliis species the rectrices number twelve, and the win;^ 

 is eutaxic. 



This Odu has a call very like that of Chalcopelia afra, but 

 uttered in a stronger and more resonant tone. Though the 

 bird is not so often seen as the other species, uests of 

 Tympanistria have occasionally been found, while those of 

 C. afra have not yet been discovered. One nest I found 

 myself, with the bird on, in some thick tangled bushes at 

 the border of a clearing, just at the height of my head from 

 the ground. It contained one egg, already slightly cracked 

 by the young bird within. After visiting the nest several 

 times, one day I found the nestling with its plumage half- 

 grown, and intended to secure it as a specimen; but when I 

 approached it flew away ! A comparison of dates shewed 

 that this squab was able to fly when twelve or thirteen 

 days old. 



Nos. 3114 and 3115 are a jjair of nestlings taken by a boy 

 from a nest. The outermost primaries already shew the 

 narrowed tips. The feathers of the upper parts of the bod}^, 

 Avith down still adhering to their tips, are chocolate-brown 

 with light reddish-brown bars ; the feathers of the under 

 jtarts are white or whitish, those of the breast with dark bars. 



On two other uests the sitting birds were shot by my boy, 

 who, by aiming at the head, succeeded in killing the birds 

 without breaking the eggs. These nests were very slight, 

 composed of small sticks or rootlets and tendrils. One of 

 the birds (No. 4386) was a female, killed about five o'clock 

 in the afternoon. She had two eggs, measuring 23 X 17 mm. 

 (both the same). The other (No. 4513) was a male, shot on 

 the nest in the forenoon : one egg Avas broken, the other 

 measured 24x18 mm. All three eggs are perfect ovals 

 with but little gloss, and of a deep cream-colour. 



(JHALCOPELIA AFKA. [Odu.] 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 94; 1907, p. 420. 



No. 4131 is a specimen of a young Dove, looking almost 



