58 7 
Birds of Southern Cameroon . 
plumage and its rather smaller size it is exactly like a female 
(not nearly like one, as is No. 3784); yet it was a breeding 
male ! 
The Ko-esong is a most lovable bird, in spite of its some¬ 
what ungainly appearance and big bill. I have already 
described its pretty song and its admirably woven nests. 
The latter are made of fine shreds torn from the leaves of 
the big grass Panicum phcatum , the folds of the ribbed or 
plicate leaves of which are seized by the bird one at a time, 
all at the same height, and torn upwards to the tip, leaving 
the grass-blade neatly and regularly shedded. About the 
end of July, a pair of Ko-esong began to build in some tall 
grass near my house. About the 1st of September I heard 
the singing of the male again, after it had been silent for 
some time, and that afternoon went to look at the nest. 
On peering among the cane-like grass-stems I saw a pretty 
sight. On the roof of their house were perched three young- 
birds, nearly fledged, and the chestnut head of the father 
could be seen not far off, as he assisted at the debut of his 
offspring. Forty-one days had then elapsed since the birds 
commenced building. 
Additional eggs are exactly like those previously de¬ 
scribed. 
Spermosptza guttata. [Edumvin.] (Text-fig. 16, A, 
p. 590.) 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 347. 
The small white spots which characterise the plumage 
of the lower breast and abdomen of the female are not 
found in young female birds, which have those parts of a 
uniform slate-grey washed with brownish. In several of 
my specimens, feathers having spots are mixed in varying 
numbers with the uniformly coloured ones, and it can be 
seen in some cases that the spotted ones are new and the 
others old. 
A very young male (No. 4032) with the plumage only 
half-grown had the parts which are red in the adult dull 
dark brown. This young bird had the margin of the gape 
