318 Major H. J. Kelsall on 



muffled gong, running down. For a long time I believed 

 that a cicada was responsible for this sound^ but eventually 

 traced it definitely to this bird. They occasionally, at any 

 rate, perch on trees. One I shot sitting lengthwise on a 

 branch, and another, which I had carefully stalked and 

 located by ear in the top of a small tree but could not see, 

 I shot as it flew out. 



They frequent open ground with scattered clumps of 

 bushes and grass. The surface of the open ground near 

 Freetown, where I obtained most of my specimens, was 

 strewn with chunks of laterite of a dark purple hue with 

 which the plumage of the bird assimilates well, rendering 

 them very inconspicuous when sitting on the ground, but I 

 could after a while often •"' sjDot^^ them by the light bars on 

 the scapulars. They are fond of sitting on roads and paths, 

 and often allow one to approach within a yard or two, when 

 they rise and flit away like a huge moth, and settle again 

 20 or 30 yards farther on. On one occasion one allowed 

 me to get within three feet of it, and I do not think it would 

 have moved had I not stopped to look at it. 



Specimens from the same locality vary very much in 

 colour, some being dark brown while others are pale ashy 

 grey. Amongst my specimens the females seem to be 

 lighter coloured than the males. 



These birds appear to be subject to filarian parasites. 

 Five of my specimens had worms in the orbits and bony 

 cavities above the palate. They also frequently had parasitic 

 flies [Hippobosca) amongst the plumage, but I never obtained 

 more than two specimens from one individual. 



Macrodipteryx macrodipterus. 



This graceful bird is moderately common. In flight the 

 two elongated primaries float out behind, and look like two 

 small birds chasing the Nightjar. 



One specimen in my collection liss the eighth, as well 

 as the ninth primary quill in the right wing elongated. 

 All three elongated pinions are of the same length, about 

 395 mm. 



