C. S. Webb—A Collector in French Cameroon



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I imagine the shock was considerable. Duala, the principal port of

French Cameroon, is hot and humid, but it is quite a busy and

prosperous place, being the exporting centre of the palm-nut and palm-

oil industry. It was rather surprising to find an hotel with a

swimming-bath attached—an unexpected luxury in West Africa.


From Duala I proceeded by rail to Eseka, a small town about

100 miles inland, where there is a large trade in palm-oil and cocoa.

The whole journey was through dense forest and not particularly

enjoyable on account of the heat. Through the kindness of the United

Africa Co. I was able to occupy a house on the edge of the forest, and

this proved to be an excellent centre for collecting. I was especially

keen to get a number of the two varieties of Black-capped Waxbills,

Estrilda nonnula and E. atricapilla, neither of which had been imported

before, except a pair of the East African form of E. atricapilla, which

I brought from Kenya in 1933. Fortunately I found both species quite

common at Eseka in fairly equal proportions, and as often as not they

were seen in small mixed flocks. There is a marked resemblance in the

upper parts of the two species, and the natives do not recognize any

difference in them. Although their feeding habits appear to be identical

they require different treatment when first captured. The Red-flanked

variety (E. atricapilla) is less hardy than the White-breasted and

requires its natural grass seeds for some time before getting used to

millet, otherwise it wdll not survive, whereas the White-breasted will

eat millet straight away and thrive on it. Both varieties look

exceedingly pretty swinging on the long grass stems in the bright

sunlight, while searching fcr seeds in the tips. They are found in the

forest clearings and palm-nut groves, i.e. anywhere where there is

sufficient light for grass to grow, but they are not found in open country,

and I never saw them in the centre of large forest clearings, but always

where cover and shade were close at hand.


The Green Spotted Waxbill (Mandingoa nitidula schlegeli) is much

brighter than the typical form (M. n. nitidula), a pair of which I brought

from Tanganyika two years ago. It is also much more plentiful, but

can hardly be . called a common bird. I found them to be very local

and to have an unaccountable affinity for one exceedingly small area

which looked exactly the same as hundreds of others. The two dozen



