49 
Birds of Southern Kamerun. 
vestibule built down two or three inches from this hole, 
growing smaller to the lower end, where the opening is not 
more than 30-35 mm. in diameter, and this vestibule shews 
traces of several selvedge edges at different heights, as if 
the bird had more than once intended to “ call the job done ” 
and then afterwards added further material. 
The number of eggs found in a nest when the clutch seems 
complete is two or three ; when a single egg is found it 
would probably be followed by one or two more. The eggs 
in a clutch of three measured 21-22x16 mm., but these 
were shorter than my other specimens, which measured 
23-24*5 by 15*5-17 mm. 
[The eight eggs vary in shape from a rather blunt to an 
oblong oval, and are practically devoid of gloss. The ground¬ 
colour varies from white or creamy white to pale rufous, and 
is sparingly marked all over with spots and dots of pale 
brown, light red, or dull maroon-red, which are more 
numerous towards the larger end, where they are often more 
or less concentrated into a zone.—O.-Gf.] 
1421. Pyromelana flammiceps. [Kuleso.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 343. 
I have seen this bird only in the region of the Ja, where 
it is common, and at the breeding-season very conspicuous. 
The males change from the plain to the breeding-plumage 
in July. After that they are often seen, like great flaming 
red flowers blossoming on the bushes and tall grass of waste 
ground, for the remaining months of the year. I have seen 
nests and eggs in September, October, and November. The 
birds lose their gorgeous dress about January, and pass the 
following months in plain sparrow-like plumage, males and 
females looking alike. They go about then in small flocks 
and attract little attention. 
In a recent article in *The Ibis 9 (1908, p. 269) 
Mr. Ogilvie-Grant reports a bird in Mr. Carruthers’s col¬ 
lection, obtained at Kasongo on the Upper Congo, as having 
partially assumed the breeding-plumage ; the date was in 
January. With this agrees the statement of Bohm quoted 
ser. ix. —von. in. e 
