134 
Birds of Gamhia. 
fiU'R, either in the hopes of g-erciug a bit of lish or a dead rat or 
as a mere means of oilence. 
Butorides atricnpiUa. BLACK CAPPED BITTEEN. 
Range. Tropical Africa. Madagascar. (H.L.) 
This lilth- Heron is (luite common but not so often .^een as 
some of the other species, as it is a most retiring' bird and haunts 
the innermost recesses and least frequented creelvs of the mangrove- 
swamps, or, higher up the river, pools and marshy patches surrounded 
by densi3 bush. 
Above it is glossy greenish black from the crown (which 
bears a drooping crest) to the lower back, below white mottled with 
reddish brown, the rest of the plumage being grey. Iris yellow, 
beak and leg-* dirty yellow. Ijength 1 (5 inches. In the young there 
is very little of the glossy green on the upp«r |)arts,s but both 
above and below most of the feathers are edged with brown. It's 
Mandingo name is Kaung-a. 
Nyciicoruiv ni/clicoi-ax. NIGHT-HERON. 
Rancjc. Centi'al and South Europe to India, fHiiiia and 
Japan, Malaya, etc., Afiica, America. {H.L.) 
A". leuconofus. 
llunge. Tropical Africa. 
These two Night-Herons should from their known range.-i 
occur ir. the Gambia, but J as yet know neither. 
Ardeola rulloides. SQUACCO HERON. 
Jiango. South Europe to the Caspian. Africa. Madagascar. 
This bird, which seems to rather court, observation than to 
shun it, is cotnmon along the coast and up the i-ivtu' as far as 
the mangroves reach, among the roots of which one sees it moving 
sedately about over the mud witli an occasional short run forward 
after anything edible it may see. 
Ardeita pai/esi. RED-NECKED LITTLE BITTERN. 
A. sitirmi.' AFRICAN LITTLE BITTERN. 
Range. Tropical Africa. {H.L). 
Both these species I 'believe occur in the Gambia. One occa- 
sionally sees among the dense reed-beds and matted growth of the 
piasfava swamps, which border large stretches of the river above the 
mangrove belt, small herons dodging about the tangled stems and 
roots. It is usually only a momentary glimpse that one catches, as 
they are adepts at hiding themselves and hardly ever trust themselves 
to their wings. These I am sure are Little Bitterns, of one or 
other of these two species. 
(To he Continued) 
The Diamond Finch. 
{Steganopleua guttata.) 
By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., M.B.N.H.S. 
It is fully ten years since specimens of this fine species 
