Birds from Sierra Leone. 195 



" Savanah Forest," i. e. " opeu woodlands, the trees 

 standing at a distance from each other, while the intervening 

 space is covered with gr-ass and other plants, occurs in 

 N. Ronietta, N. Panguma, N. Konno, Koiuadugu, and 

 Karine ; the height of this forest rarely exceeds 30 feet, 

 except in the case of a few trees/' 



According to Mr. C. E. Lane-Poole, Conservator of 

 Forests for Sierra Leone * : ''The Rain Forests at one time 

 must have covered the whole country, they are now confined 

 to Ronietta Railway and Sherbro Districts, to part of 

 Panguma and Konno, and to all the mountain ranges in the 



country They are most generally met with on the 



top of a mountain range, the natives having cultivated the 

 lower and not having yet reached the upper slopes. Or, 

 again, they are preserved owing to the superstitious belief 

 that they are inhabited by a benign or evil spirit. A piece 

 of forest is preserved aronnd each town, a part of which is 

 used as a ' Porro Bush'.'' In the north-eastern portion of 

 the Protectorate the country becomes more mountainous. 



The year is divided into two seasons, a wet and a dry. 

 The wet season begins in May and continues till Octobei', 

 the remainder of the year being the dry season. The 

 rainfall at Freetown is from 160 to 180 inches annually, 

 July and August being the wettest months. 



The breeding-season for the majority of birds seems to 

 be during the rains. 



The natives appear to have distinctive names for a good 

 many birds. I have given a few that I was able to 

 ascertain, and which I believe I have reproduced more or 

 less correctly. 



Some of the natives have a belief that if they eat the 

 flesh of certain birds it will cause disease, or some misfortune 

 to fall upon them. One of my "boys" told me that his 

 family could not eat " turacu." Another, that he could not 

 eat Bycanistes cylindricus, and that if he did his flesh would 

 turn white. I was unable to ascertain if this belief was 



* Report on the Forests of Sierra Leone, 1911. 



