NOTES 
ON 
THE HABITS OF SOME BIRDS, COLLECTED ON THE COAST 
or 
WESTERN AFRICA. 
BY 
C. A. GORDON, M. D., 
Surgeon, 57th Regiment. 
From the dangerous nature of the climate of Western Africa, and 
the little knowledge we have of the country or its productions 
beyond a few miles inland, the ornithology of that portion of the 
continent has hitherto possessed much interest. A few years since, 
collections of considerable extent, both in numbers and species, were 
brought to this country from the “ Coast,” and their examination 
formed the basis of Mr. Swainson’s two volumes of “ Birds of 
Western Africa.” The unfortunate “Expedition to the Niger” 
brought a small collection of birds on its return, a few of which 
were described by Mr. Fraser and Mr. Strickland, in the proceedings 
of the Zoological Society ;* and one or two were figured by myself 
* In the Appendix to the “ Expedition to the Niger,” published in 1848, 
all the species, amounting to forty -five in number, are described. 
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