51 
Birds of Southern Kamerun . 
particular species I never found at Efulen, but it is common 
on the Ja, where the open country is more extensive. On 
my way from the interior down towards Efulen and the coast, 
at many grassy and reedy places near the streams along the 
road, I saw little flocks of this species. Perched on grass- 
stems all around, they would wait till one was almost 
opposite to them on the path, and then fly up together 
with the faintest little twittering sounds, and move in 
perfect unison, like a squad of well-drilled little soldiers 
with their neat black and brown and white uniforms, to a 
new station a little further on. 
1450. Sperm estes poensis. [Aseleke, or Ejile.] 
Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 344. 
This species is common in every district where I have 
been, including the Njiem (or Zima) country down the Ja, 
though, of course, it is confined strictly to the open village- 
clearings. Both kinds of Aseleke are caught by boys in 
snares baited with tender grains of corn. 
Nests of these birds are not infrequently found in the tops 
of the small trees about the villages. A very favourite site 
is in the thick tree-top formed by the sprouts that grow 
out from the tall stump left after a tree has been cut down 
some ten or twelve feet from the ground, as is the common 
practice near villages, for fear of the wind blowing the tall 
trees down on the houses. Into such a low and thick tree- 
top I watched a little Spermestes poensis fly repeatedly, each 
time bearing a long bunch of the grey beard-like XJsnea that 
it brought from the limb of a tall old forest tree not far 
away. It flew with evident effort, for the bunch was much 
longer than the bird itself. This plant is a favourite 
building-material of this species. Often the outside of the 
bulky nest is of this, and the inside, with the tubular 
entrance, is of fine adhesive and hair-like grass-tops. The 
nest is shaped like a water-bottle laid on its side, with the 
mouth and neck horizontal. 
Eggs of different species of Spermestes and Estrilda have 
been shown me a number of times in the nests, but usually it 
