492 Mr. G. L. Bates on the 



attention to each other when feeding; hut whenever one 

 Guinea-chick pecked at anything the others would run to join 

 it. If one had anything large in its bill, another would seize 

 it and try to pull it away. They would peck at small objects 

 when moving^ though indifferent to them when lying still. 

 One would often seize with its bill the wing-tip or toe of a 

 duckling. Their natural food probably consisted of worms 

 or millipedes and such like. 



Last August my hunter, Nkolo^ shot a Guinea-hen, which 

 on dissection shewed that she had recently laid several eggs. 

 She was sitting on nine eggs, on dry leaves on the ground in 

 the forest ; five of the eggs were broken by the shot, but 

 he brought the other four. The eggs are white, but much 

 stained, and the numerous pits in the shell are dark as if 

 from dirt. They are pointed at one end and very blunt at 

 the other. They vary in length from 47-5 to 49 mm., and in 

 width from 37 to 38*5 mm. 



POLYBOROIDES TYPICUS. 



Ibis, 1904, pp. 98, 596. 



This peculiar Bird of Prey lacks the adroitness of move- 

 ment of the more typical Falconidae ; it mainly seeks food 

 that is not difficult to secure. It continually vis-its the palm- 

 trees about villages, and seems to have two objects in view : 

 one is to eat palm-nuts, the other to look for nestling 

 Weaver-birds. One individual used to visit the palm-trees 

 near my house on Sunday afternoons, when there were no 

 people about. In a tree that was full of the nests of Ploceus 

 cucullatus and P. nigerrimus, the Hawk was seen to go from 

 nest to nest, tearing them open with its bill ; but it did not 

 find any young birds while I watched it. It was in plain 

 sight, and seemed perfectly aware of its exposed position, for 

 it never made a motion without afterwards raising its head 

 and looking all around, with its crest erected, which gives it 

 a peculiarly fierce appearance. Once, while its head was so 

 raised, it was struck about the eyes by a Weaver-bird ; but 

 except when it disturbed a nest, the small birds ])aid no more 

 attention to it than they would have done to a Hornbill. 



