517 
Birds of Southern Cameroon. 
Nightjar (see ‘ Ibis/ 1909, p. 26), of which another example 
was shot in March, also in the dry season. A male with long 
wing-plumes, belonging to one of these species, has also been 
seen at Bitye at the same season. The birds are always 
seen on the open grounds of clearings, and not in the 
forest. I almost walked on one when crossing a newly 
made clearing; it was on the ground, amongst the brown 
and yellowish dry leaves and grass, which it so closely 
resembled in colour that if it had not flown I might almost 
have stepped on it without seeing it. 
Cmtura sabinii. [Mvae.] 
Reich. V. A. ii. p. 388 ; Bates, Ibis, 1909, p. 27. 
Four more specimens have been obtained, adult males 
and females. The length of the wing varies from 121 to 
125 mm. 
Were it not that these Swifts have a propensity to fly into 
houses, doubtless taking then for caves or large hollow trees, 
I should have seen less of them than I have. Two of my 
specimens were caught in native habitations. I have a 
number of times seen Mvae dart past my house, and some¬ 
times enter it, even clinging for a moment to the wall. One 
specimen was knocked down by a man with a stick as it 
came out of an old pit in the forest. I used to see a pair of 
Mvae every day, coursing about in the vicinity of a large 
hollow tree, where they doubtless had a nest. 
Two nests with eggs, taken from hollow trees, were brought 
to me, in each case with a bird. One, a male, was shot by my 
boy as it clung to the inside of a hollow tree, which was 
open above, giving light enough to shoot. There were three 
other birds, making two pairs, in the hollow. The other 
specimen brought with a nest was also a male. It had been 
caught with a butterfly-net by a boy who saw it enter a 
hollow under the half-rotten roots of an old tree, and 
secured it as it flew out, afterwards taking the nest. These 
nests were made of small bits of twigs stuck together, and 
were shaped like half-cups, glued to the wall of the hollow 
tree. In one were three pure white eggs, measuring, 
SER. ix.—VOL. v. 2 N 
