90 Ur. R. B. Sharpe on Birds 
have been cleared off the land around the native villages. The 
birds of the forest are largely distinct from those found in 
the gardens and the low bushes in the abandoned gardens in 
the clearings. 
" All the Weavers and Weaver- Finches that I have sent 
are confined to the clearings, unless it be the black red- 
bi'easted ' Edumvin ' [Spermospiza guttata], which I have 
seen building in high trees in the forest. The ^ Nyas ' 
[^Hyphantornis cucuUatus] is the bird that builds the best- 
woven nests, with long tube-like entrances opening down- 
wards. The different kinds of conical-billed birds fly about 
grassy places in twittering flocks ; they build in tall grass 
or bushes, and form large gourd-shaped nests of fine grass- 
tops, with very narrow eutrances opening upwards. 
" There are a number of birds which I take to be Thrushes. 
They include the ^ Etyityo ' \_Turdus saturatus], which was 
found in the village-clearing, the different kinds of ' Ntyon ' 
[Alethe castanea, A. alexandri\ and ^Akalat' [Turdinus 
albipectus, Callene cy omit hop sis], the Akwalat [Neocossyphus 
A. 
poensis], and the Otok [Eurillas cameronensis'] , dll the small 
birds being procured on June 20th and 21st and on July 
11th, and being caught by boys with snares on the ground 
in the forest, though some of them may be seen in the 
clearings too. The ^ Otok ' has a respectable little song. 
^' The Sun-birds are confined to the village clearings. 
They are not only pretty and lively, but utter sweet notes, 
very fine and soft. 
" There are two Flycatchers of different styles : one is called 
' Ngweii ' [Diaphophyia castanea] , and another ' Kuletyaii,^ 
in imitation of its note, besides which there are two or three 
similar to those sent from Benito and Bata. They are usually 
seen sitting on bushes or trees, leaving their perch at intervals 
for a short circuit in the air to catch a flying insect. In the 
forest I have sometimes heard a sharp noise in the tree-tops 
like the snappmg of a small whip often repeated, and I think 
it is made by birds of this sort, probably with their wings. 
'' The Woodpeckers and Barbets are very characteristic of 
the forest-country, full of decaying trees and branches in 
