;44 



Lieut. Bulger shot a specimen in the island of Bulama. I met with it plentifully on the Gold 

 Coast, as noticed below ; and every one of Governor Ussher's consignments from the same locality 

 contained an assortment of specimens : from Lagos it has also been sent to the Stuttgard Museum. 

 Mr. Crossley and Dr. Reichenow procured it in the Cameroons, and DuChaillu in Gaboon and 

 on the river Camma. The original types came from Fernando Po, received from Mr. Fraser. 

 Lower down on the west coast the late Captain Sperling found the species on the Congo ; and the 

 Lisbon Museum contains an example from Loanda, where it was forwarded by Senhor Toulson. 

 Thus it will be seen that the species is typically West-African, ranging through the entire length 

 of Mr. Sharpe's " Guinean subregion." 



On the Gold Coast they are extremely abundant in all the wooded districts ; and frequently 

 my companion Mr. Buckley and myself, while resting on the banks of the shady brook at Abro- 

 bonko, near Cape Coast, have watched these active little creatures, ever on the move, threading 

 in and out through the tangled masses of creeper which hang down from the loftier trees, in 

 their steady search for the small insects which form their principal food. At times they flit across 

 the stream to some more sunny bough, always accompanied by their mates in almost every 

 movement, and frequently seen in small parties of four or five, all apparently on the most 

 friendly terms, exhibiting none of that quarrelsome disposition which is rather characteristic of 

 Sun-birds in general, but often disturbing the bright butterflies from the blossoms in their 

 restless search for the smaller insects, and at times dipping their long tongues into the honey of 

 the flowers. So abundant is this bird that during our stay in West Africa we rarely passed a 

 day without seeing it ; and when in the Aguapim mountains, as soon as our ornithological 

 pursuits became known, the natives brought us in cages full of these Sun-birds alive, showing 

 how abundant they are and how easily caught with birdlime ; and had we not positively refused 

 to have any thing to do with live birds brought in by the natives, the massacre of these poor 

 little creatures would have been frightful to contemplate. 



Although so abundant in these wooded districts, we did not meet with it amongst the 

 bushes which are scattered over the wide plains of Accra. 



They never lose the metallic colours which adorn their plumage from their earliest youth ; 

 and these bright colours are constantly visible as they flit about the edges of the bushes, rarely 

 flying more than a few yards at a time, and, if fired at and missed, they only fly round to the 

 other side of the bush, to recommence their search for insects, and appear to be perfectly 

 unconscious of any danger. 



