The Birds of Gambia. 
37 
Estrilda cinerea. GREY WAXniLL. 
Kaiige. W.E. aud N.K. Africa. (Sh.) 
Distinctly raie in Gambia. I oiilj- liad one auion<j Soo Gambia small 
birds. 
EsUilda subjiava. ZEBRA WAXBILL. 
Range. W.vS.E. and N.E. Africa. [Sh.) 
Fairly common in Gambia. 
Eslrilda meipoda. ORANGE-CHEEKED WAXBIIJ,. 
Range. West Africa. (Sh.) 
The commonest Waxbill of the Gambia. Associates with the parties 
of Cordon-Bleus, etc. The two birds, too, frequently nest in company; the 
Waxbills making their nests on the ground in grass tufts under the thorn 
bushes occupied bj' the nests of the Cordon Bleu. Another ver}- conimou 
site is under the shelter of recently felled thorn trees, which are cut dowu 
one year to clear the ground for farm making in the following season. 
Estrilda ccciulescem. IvAVENDER FINCH. 
Range. West Africa. [Sh.) 
Common in Gambia, and though not so numerous perhaps as other 
Waxbills, are much more noticeable, owing to their rather large size and 
greater tanieness. They will flit about within a few feet of one's hands and 
seem to have but little natural fear of man. 
They are common in the gardens atBathurst, particularly during the 
rains, where they appear to find much of their food in the flowering shrubs, 
which also attract numbers of Sun-birds. Whether it is the nectar that 
the Lavenders seek or minute insects I do not know. At other times one 
sees them feeding on the ground on grass seeds, etc., with other Waxbills. 
These Waxbills probably eat a larger proportion of insect food than 
most of the other Waxbills except the Firefinches, and this accounts in a 
great measure for the greater difficulty in keeping them in captivity. Even 
out here they do not live long in confinement, while in England I have 
found them even more shortlived than Cordon Bleus; the latter out here 
appear to make hardy cage birds, and I know several which have lived for 
years on a plain seed diet, generally crushed native millet. 
Lagonoslicla senegala. FIREFINCH. 
Range. West Africa. (B.M. Cat.) 
Very common in Gambia. Every village swarms with them ; tame 
and fearless, often roosting in the huts; very rarely seen far from inhabited 
places. Nest in the thatch of houses, in holes in the walls, rarely in grass 
tufts some little distance from any village. Eggs white. 
I once had alive an orange variet}' of this bird, which I brought home 
to the Zoo. ; evidently nierelj' a sport. The ordinary red was replaced by 
a tawny orange colour. 
Native names : Mandingo. INIoro-Kunundingo. 
Joloff. Ramatu (for this and other Waxbills.) 
