from Efulen in Cameroon. 91 
whicli insects work. I have several times seen a dead tree 
inhabited by a colony of the little ^ Ovol ' [? Barbatula du- 
chaillui] with the trunk and branches bored full of holes. 
These birds were not seen or heard tapping on the trees, and 
they did not run over the perpendicular tree-trunks like 
Woodpeckers_, but had to take to the wing in order to change 
their position. The stiff-tailed Woodpeckers found here 
are often heard tapping in the forest, but not loudly like 
those at home, as if for the sake of making a noise. The 
man who killed the four large ' Ovol ^ on July 23rd said 
that there was a big colony of them in a dead tree. He 
climbed a neighbouring tree, so as to be within short 
range of the birds^ holes, and shot nine of them, as they 
came and went, with his cross-bow and little palm-stalk 
arrows. All nine were males, for I examined them all in 
order to get specimens of both sexes. The little 'Omvek' 
\_Barbatula scolopaceu] is continually heard uttering its 
monotonous ' kom ! kom ! kom \,' the same note being 
repeated a dozen times, nearly as rapidly as the ticking of 
a watch, with a short pause — then the same thing occurs again 
as long as you have the patience to listen. It reminds one 
of the tinkling of a hammer on a small anvil. 
A 
'^ The little Owl called ' Obimven ' is, according to the 
unvarying testimony of the natives, the bird that makes a 
weird call or song, usually heard at evening time, which 
consists of three clear notes, the last in a trilling tone, uttered 
rapidly and repeatedly. It reminds me a little of the ciy of 
the Whip-poor- Will in America. 
" Hornbills are very characteristic of the forests, the 
rushing noise of their wings and their harsh cries being 
always heard where there are trees and vines with the fruits 
they love. The crested 'Bebone^ is generally (? always) 
seen near the ground in the forest, and is said to make a 
practice of following flocks of monkeys overhead in the trees, 
and picking up the fruits they drop.^^ 
The species represented in Mr. Bates's collection are as 
follows : — 
