100 
Birds of Gambia 
disdain on occasion to share with Vultures, Marabouts, and other 
carrion -feeders the remains of a dead ox or other animal. As dark- 
ness falls they leave their feeding grounds and fly off to some tall 
tree for the night, but apparently rarely select the same tree on 
which they passed the day ; at least I li'ave never seen any roost- 
ing o n those trees, which I know as their common h|aunts during 
the day. Their note, uttered both on the wing and wlken perched 
on a tree is a harsh ringing triple sound, which can bb heard at 
a great distance. It is well suggested by the bird's Mandingoi 
name, " Kanung'a." 
Theii- general colour is olive-brown, darker on the wings and 
tail and lighter on the head, neck and under parts ; there is a patch 
of dark metallic green washed with bronze on the wing-coverts, while 
the under wing-and tail -coverts are tinged with a similar but less 
distinct gloss. The bill is black except along the posterior half of 
the ridge, wheie iti is red, the legs dark reddish brown. Irisi, dalrb 
brown; length about .SO inches; i.e. rather smaller than the White 
Ibis. 
TlegadiU falcineUus. GLOSSY IBIS. 
Range. South Europe and Asia, Australia, Africa, Eastern 
United States to Florida, Jamaica. (H.L.) 
The well-known Glossy Ibis, a much smaller bird than either 
of the two preceding species, I have never yet seen in the Gambia, 
though its range would appear to include this part of the world'. 
Plalalea <>lha. AFRICAN SPOONBILL. 
Range. Tropical Africa. Mad.tigascar. (H.L). 
An entirely white bird, about 35 inches long, with a bare 
crown, face and throat. Its characteristic spoon -shaped bill has 
the upper mandible wholly pink, the lower black edged with dirty 
pink, shading into yellow. The legs are red, not 61acfc as in the 
European Spoonbill, in which species too the bare area on the head 
is confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the base of tbe bill. 
I look upon the Spoonbill as rather a rare bird here, as I 
have only seen four examples since I have been in this country, 
the first was on the river in 1901, the second shot frota' a boat 
on my way down the river in June, 1904; the third one I had in 
oaptivitj' for some time in 1905, while the fourth was shot this year 
(1911) on the Sofynyama oreek on the South Bank. The bird, 
however, although rare, is quite well known to the natives, \mder 
the name, " Uado.sa," the exact Mandingo equivalent for our name, as 
it literally means " Spoon-mouth." 
ARDEIDAE. 
Herons of many species are numerous in such a country of 
swamp and creek, where practically one half of its area consists of 
water (the river and its creeks) and mangrove or other swamps, which 
must surely provide all that the most exacting Ardeine heart could 
desire. Some 15 species probably occur here, hut of the differ- 
ences between a good many of these I am unfortunately ignorant, 
