418 Dr. R. B. Sharpe on Birds 
59. FRANCOLINUS squaMATUS (Cass.) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, 
p. 93. 
1348, 1844. g 9 ad. River Ja, Jan. 22, 1906. 
[ Heard, but not seen, in the Zima Country. 
The ‘‘Okwal” inhabits the borders of cassava patches 
and the thick growth of bushes where gardens have been 
abandoned, around every village where I have been, in the 
Gaboon region, on the Benito, in the Bulu Country, and in 
the Zima Country. Its whistling cackle, though sometimes 
heard in the evening or even at noon on a dark day, is 
oftenest heard early in the morning. ‘This sound is as 
regular as if it were made by an alarm-clock set for 4.30 or 
4.45 o’clock a.m. Many a morning when I have wished to 
get up early I have been aroused by the Okwal. Though 
such a near neighbour of man, and living largely upon food 
planted by him, it keeps itself so well hidden as to be seldom 
killed. Some natives are able to imitate its call and lure it 
near enough to shoot it. I have heard also of its being 
caught on its roost at night, for it is said to sleep soundly. 
Okwal’s eggs are not infrequently found on the ground, 
only two or three in a place. They are very like small hens’ 
eggs of a dark tint. A small band of Okwal chicks, one- 
third grown, was seen in February ; a half-grown young one 
was shot in March. Two old birds shot in January were 
breeding.---G. L. B.] 
60. GuTTERA PLUMIFERA. 
Guttera plumifera (Cass.) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 94. 
[Called “ Nkan ” by the Fang and “ Mvem ” by the Bulu. 
This species, like the last, is a forest-bird, and is found in 
every place where I have lived. Some account of it has 
been given in the ‘ Ibis’ (1904, p. 90). 
In a village where I once passed the night two of these 
birds were brought in by boys returning from a porcupine- 
hunt with dogs. They said that the dogs had caught these 
two birds in their hiding-places on the ground, while the 
rest of the flock flew up into the trees. The gizzard of one 
specimen contained broken pieces of large hard seeds and 
sand.—G. L. B.] 
