280 
Mr. W. P. Lowe on the 
[Ibis, 
ranging to the head of the Persian Gulf. I have, however, 
known the dark race to occur once in the Canary Islands 
(cf. Ibis, 1920, p. 757), so that apparently stragglers may 
be looked for on the West Coast of Africa, where there can 
be no limit to its wanderings.. Undoubtedly the note 
supplied by Mr. Lowe must apply to the British Lesser 
Black-backed Gull (Lams fuscus affinis ), which is known to 
winter in the western Mediterranean, in the Azores, Madeira, 
and Canary Islands, passing down the West African coast as 
far as Southern Nigeria. Mr. Lowe has himself obtained 
a specimen of the light-backed race in Sierra Leone on a 
former trip ; this was recorded by myself (Ibis, 1912, p, 229) 
as L. fuscus. — D. A. B.~\ 
*Sterna maxima. Giant Tern. 
A flock of'about fifty were seen daily off the shore. 
Streptopelia semitorquata erythrophrys. Bed-eyed Turtle- 
Dove. 
Very common. Young birds, well-fledged, were obtained 
9 April. 
*Chalcopelia afra afra. Blue-spotted Wood-Dove. 
Moderately common. 
Village calva calva. Bald-fronted Fruit-Pigeon. 
Scarce. Two or three seen in the tall mangroves. 
Fancolinus bicalcaratus thornei. Thorne’s Double-spurred 
Franco] in. 
This is undoubtedly by far the most common bird on the 
island. In the cassava it fairly swarms, coveys of thirty or 
more rising continuously as one walks through. They do a 
great deal of damage to the crops, and the natives, having- 
no guns, are completely at the mercy of the bird. My last 
visit to their feeding-grounds, 23 May, showed they had 
paired and receded into the bush, as only an odd bird 
was to be seen, where a few weeks previously there were 
hundreds. 
