208 BIRDS 



that in some of the East African ports specimens of 

 the well-known grey bird may be purchased, but, 

 so far as our present information goes, this bird is 

 apparently a West African species, and seldom if 

 ever seen east of the Congo forest country, those 

 mentioned as found in captivity on the east coast 

 having almost certainly been conveyed overland 

 from one side of the country to the other. I do 

 not think the statement is justified that these birds 

 are never found so far to the eastward as Lake 

 Tanganyika. Some writers have hazarded the 

 definite statement that they are wholly absent on 

 that lake, but, on the other hand, travellers have 

 assured me to the contrary, and I look upon the 

 distribution of the grey parrot as by no means 

 definitely and correctly ascertained even yet. 



In Zambezia we have the so-called Nyasaland 

 Love-bird (Agapornis), Meyer's Parrot, and the 

 brown-headed Poecephalus. These birds may often 

 be seen in the evening, and are readily distinguished 

 by their flight, not unlike that of a teal, by their 

 curious strident whistle, and by the circumstance 

 that they almost invariably fly in pairs. 



That singular type the Mozambique Nightjar 

 [Caprimulgus fossii), which rises noiselessly from 

 almost under your feet in the daytime, and flits 

 away for a few yards to quickly alight again, pos- 

 sesses a colour scheme which harmonises so perfectly 

 with the ground that it is extremely difficult to 

 detect. I have seen no trace of the more northerly 

 standard-wing variety (Cosmetornis), which occurs 

 in Nyasaland, and is distinguished from the first- 

 named by the singular elongation of one of the 



