Birds of Suulhcrn. Cameroon. 5 1 1 



ti'ace of tlic cliestuut patch on the flanks that marks adult 

 females. 



A male of this species (No. 3808)^ which had heen shot 

 just as it left the nest, was hrought to me. The nest con- 

 tained two eggs, and are similar to a nest and eggs brought 

 to me a few years ago which were thought to belong to this 

 Shrike. Tlie nest of No. 3868 was securely placed among a 

 number of twigs ; it was bulky, made of fine fil)res, grass or 

 weed-stalks, tendrils, and maize "silk.'' 



The eggs measure 2o"5 x 17*5 and 23 x 18 mm. 



[Eggs of Mackinnon's Shrike are of a regular oval form, 

 devoid of gloss, and have the ground-colour pale cream;/ 

 white, finely spotted and speckled all over with pale yellowish- 

 brown and lilac-grey, the markings, which are everywhere 

 rather faint, being most numerous towards the larger end 

 and in some specimens forming a regular wreath. — O.-G.] 



DiCRURus sHARPii. [T'a-Beti]. 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 355 ; Bates, 1G09, p. 37. 



No. 3774, a female with signs of recent incubation, was 

 shot by myself near its nest, where it had been feeding its 

 young. The nest w%is on a thin horizontal branch of a little 

 tree, only ten feet from the ground, in an old ckotok. AVhcn 

 the parent birds found me near tlicir nest, one of them 

 scolded me vociferously, alternating its scolding noise with 

 its clear song-notes ; it thus attracted quite a crowd of little 

 Sunbirds and other species, including aTouraco, to tlie place. 

 Tiie nestlings were perfectly naked, with yellowish skins. 

 They had the tongue and inside of tiie mouth deep yellow, 

 without markings. The yellow colour persists at the base of 

 the tongue in fully adult birds, after the rest of the tongue 

 has become black like the bill. 



The nest above mentioned was just like that already 

 described (Ibis, 1909, ]). 37), and suspended in the same 

 manner between two twigs. The principal material consisted 

 of Usnea stems, and probably the same material was used 

 in the construction of the other nest, though I described it 

 as " fine rootlets." 



