2l6 
The Birds of Gambia. 
up wondei fnlh- against the deep green and catches the eye at once as the 
birds skulk about the undergrowth or flit from bush to l)ush, uttering their 
sharp disyllabic call-note, '-chirk-chirk." IJesides this call they have a 
sliort wliistling song of a few notes. 
Mandingo name: Kndiing-kudung. 
L. iniaii. 
Range. Seiieganibia to Portuguese Guinea. (H.L.) 
Another Bush-Shrike, the range of which must inchule the Gambia, 
though I do not know the bird. It is black above aiul pale bufif with a 
slight pink tinge l)elow, where its relitiou is scarlet. 
Dryoscopm oambensis. PUFH-B.^CK SHRIKE. 
Range. Senegambia to Angola. (H.L.) 
I often see — always in pairs in fairly thick luish — aiul have once or 
twice shot birds wliich I take to belong to this species, but although luy 
birds agree fairly well with the description of Z?. gambensis, their nieasure- 
iiients have always been much too short, so that I am not certain yet 
whether I know this .Shrike or not. 
In this species the sexes differ ; in the male the upoer surface, wings 
and tail are brown, the under parts while tinged with grey. The feathers 
of the rump are long, white and downy, and form the " puffback." Iii the 
female the upper parts are grey with dusky stripes on the head and brown 
wings and tail ; below she is buff and while; the fluffy back feathers are 
not so long as those of the male. 
TeIepho7iiis senegalns. BLACK-HHADED BUSH-SHRIKE. 
Range. North-East and Tropical Africa. 
Very common in the Gambia. Always in open country, where it 
spends a great part of its time on the ground or in the low scrub, in which 
it skulks aiul manages in a wonderful way to hide its rather conspicuous 
plumage by carefully keeping a trunk or leafy patch between any observer 
and itself, until actually driven onl, when it will fly, still keeping low down 
in shelter or taking long flying hops along the grouiul, to another patch of 
bush. It is always found in pairs, and when one leaves a bush it will be 
almost immediately followed by its mate. It is a beautiful singer (probably 
the best we have in Gambia) especially during, and just after, the rains. 
The song is heard most frequently and at its best in the early mornings and 
late evenings and consists of a long sweet strain of flutey notes, very dis- 
tinctive when heard but very difficult to remember or whistle. To me it 
seems quite equal to the Tlirnsli's song, and rather reminds ine of what I 
remember of that of the Shama. 
Native names are: Ndoio (Mandingo) and Ndokh (JolofF). 
Native accounts describe this bird as being so wrapped up in the 
beauty of its voice, that it shuts its eyes when singing and becomes so 
absorbed in its song that it can be easily caught in the hand; needless to 
