490 
Mr. G. L. Bates on the 
Tympanistria tympanistria. [Odu.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 94; 1905, p. 464; 1907, p. 420. 
In this species the rectrices number twelve, and the wing 
is eutaxic. 
This Odu has a call very like that of Chalcopelia afra , but 
uttered in a stronger and more resonant tone. Though the 
bird is not so often seen as the other species, nests of 
Tympanistria have occasionally been found, while those of 
C. afra have not yet been discovered. One nest I found 
myself, with the bird on, in some thick tangled bushes at 
the border of a clearing, just at the height of my head from 
the ground. It contained one egg, already slightly cracked 
by the young bird within. After visiting the nest several 
times, one day I found the nestling with its plumage half- 
grown, and intended to secure it as a specimen; but when I 
approached it flew away ! A comparison of dates shewed 
that this squab was able to fly when twelve or thirteen 
days old. 
Nos. 3114 and 3115 are a pair of nestlings taken by a boy 
from a nest. The outermost primaries already shew the 
narrowed tips. The feathers of the upper parts of the body, 
with down still adhering to their tips, are chocolate-brown 
with light reddish-brown bars; the feathers of the under 
parts are white or whitish, those of the breast with dark bars. 
On two other nests the sitting birds were shot by my boy, 
who, by aiming at the head, succeeded in killing the birds 
■without breaking the eggs. These nests were very slight, 
composed of small sticks or rootlets and tendrils. One of 
the birds (No. 4386) was a female, killed about five o^clock 
in the afternoon. She had two eggs, measuring 23 X 17 mm. 
(both the same). The other (No. 4513) was a male, shot on 
the nest in the forenoon : one egg was broken, the other 
measured 24 x 18 mm. All three eggs are perfect ovals 
with but little gloss, and of a deep cream-colour. 
Chalcopelia afra. [Odu.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 94; 1907, p. 420. 
No. 4131 is a specimen of a young Dove, looking almost 
