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Dr. E. Hopkinson



belly ancl a very deeply-forked tail, comes to us in April or May to

remain to breed here during the rains.


Of the other Passerine birds, Flycatchers are numerous (as

they ought to be in this country where insect life is so abundant),

and all sorts of Warblers, from the resident Grass Warblers to the

Nightingale and other visitors from the north, Wagtails (the majority

winter visitors), Babblers, and Bulbuls, both as residents and

migrants, Shrikes of many kinds, Golden Orioles, and Sunbirds are

all represented.


The remaining families to be dealt with are the Starlings,

Finches, and Weaver-birds. Of the first, the most noticeable from

their numbers, their tameness, and their noise, are the Glossy

Starlings,* of which three species are very common, one long-tailed

and two short, while a third, the Amethyst Starling,! mainly a rainy

season visitor only, is one of the most beautiful birds of the Gambia.


The chief representatives of the Finches are two Sparrows

(the Senegal Sparrow J and the Bock Sparrow §), and two Serins

(the Grey jj and the Green Singing Finches *), the last-named being

the only commonly kept cage bird in this country, though large

numbers of the next family (the Weavers) are caught for sale and

export to Europe.


The Weaver family in the Gambia include Whydahs, true

Weavers, Waxbills, and Mannikins. Of the first the Paradise and

Pin-tailed Whydahs are common, while the Yellow-backed is much

more local in its haunts. Among the Weavers are various sorts of

Yellow Weavers,** commonly called “Palm-birds,” the Black Textors,

which make huge community-nests in cotton or other large trees in

the native villages, and the Bishops,ft so noticeable during the rains

from the brilliant red and black or yellow and black of the males in

their breeding plumage, and their dancing, hovering flight above the

long grass, as they show off to their plainly-clad mates sitting or

building below. Our Mannikins are the ubiquitous “ Bronze

Mannikin ” and its much larger relation the “ Magpie Mannikin,”



* Lamprotornis and Lamprocolius. f Cinnyricinclus.


J Passer griseus. § Petronia dentata.


|| Poliospiza leucopygiu. IT Serinus hartlaubi.



** Hyphantornis, etc. ft Pyromelana.



