34 6 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
by having a tail so short that it is scarcely visible, but the bird appears to 
full advantage when soaring with outspread pinions, as with the exception 
of the head its shape is then almost that of a crescent moon. It is perhaps 
the most brightly coloured of all raptorial birds, being a combination of 
reddish-brown, black and dove-grey with a sheen of bronze over part of the 
plumage. The naked skin about the cheeks and the beak is crimson-scarlet 
which is also the colour of the legs. The tip of the beak is black and the 
glossy black feathers of the head can be raised into a casque-like crest. This 
bird is not nearly as common in British Central Africa as it is to the east 
or to the south. It prefers an open country of thin vegetation where it can 
easily sight its prey. The Gypohierax which for many years was classed as a 
vulture but which is now known to be an aberrant fishing eagle, is found on the 
northern half of Lake Nyasa but not any distance to the east of that lake. It 
has been stated, I believe, that it is met with on the Island of Pemba, near 
Zanzibar, but I fancy this is a mistake. Gypohierax is found 
throughout the forest region of West Africa and its extension 
to Lake Nyasa I have already cited as one of the instances of 
western forms penetrating into British Central Africa. The 
Osprey is common, so is the Egyptian Kite ; and most of the 
genera of hawks, buzzards, and falcons are represented by 
various species. 
A remarkable bird from its affinities is the Naked-Cheeked 
Serpent Hawk ( Polyboroides typicus ). This bird is very closely 
allied to the parent form from which the Old World vultures 
originated, and is also connected with a still more primitive 
Accipitrine, the Secretary bird of South and East Africa. 
Strange to say the Secretary Vulture which is so common in 
South Africa, and which I have myself seen in East Africa, 1 
has not yet been recorded from the south-central portion of the 
continent, 2 being another of those forms (apparently) whose 
distribution is interrupted by British Central Africa. Its place 
is to some extent taken by its relative, Polyboi-oides, which 
greatly resembles it in its habits, especially as regards the 
killing of snakes and other reptiles. The toes of Polyboroides are short, though 
not so disproportionately short as in the more bustard-like Secretary Vulture. 
The leg has extraordinary mobility ; it can to some extent be bent backwards 
as well as forwards at the tarsus. The legs are long, though not as long as in 
the secretary bird. Polyboroides has the feathers on the back of the head and 
down the neck prolonged into a kind of crest. 
The Gallinaceous birds are represented by two species of guinea fowl, 
several species of francolin, and a couple of quails. One guinea fowl is far 
from common and is probably confined to the southern and eastern parts of 
this natural sub-region—the crested guinea fowl ( Guttera edouardi). The other 
guinea fowl found in enormous numbers throughout all British Central Africa 
except on the higher mountains is one of the commoner species—the horned 
guinea fowl. 3 Although this bird is a rapid runner and frequents the ground 
a good deal in search of its food, it is not perhaps sufficiently realised how fond 
it is of trees. It is never found far away from a forest and often roosts high 
1 It is also found in Senegambia and the Nigerian Sudan. 
2 Though it is found as far north as the Zambezi Valley where the natives call it Noma. 
3 Almost exactly like the domestic bird. 
A SMALL FALCON 
(Falco minor) 
