THE BIRDS OF LIBERIA 643 
a number of small warbler-like species that especially frequent low, bushy 
growth along the streams, in openings of the forest, or at the borders of clearings. 
These include the green Camarophoras, which remind one somewhat of our 
Yellowthroats (Geothlypis), the curious short-tailed Sylvietta and Amauro- 
cichla, as well as a few small weaver finches, including Quelea, Spermospiza, 
Pyrenestes, and Pytelia. Obviously the number of forest-dwelling species is 
large, and these are sufficiently diversified in habitat preference to occupy the 
various types of forest cover. Many are wide-ranging in the forested area of 
West Africa, often with slightly different representatives in the Cameroons and 
elsewhere in the Congo Basin. 
ALTERATIONS OF THE FORESTED AREAS 
The effect of centuries of human occupation has been gradually to eat into 
the original forest cover, especially at its edges, and to a less extent in scattered 
areas within the forest, so that with the felling of trees, burning the trunks, 
and later clearing the areas entirely and planting them to crops of upland rice 
and manioc, a complete change in the nature of the ground cover is brought 
about, resulting in the withdrawal of most of the tree-dwellers, while some of 
the thicket-loving species remain to haunt the dense growth of thorns, bushes, 
and weeds that close in the edges of such areas. 
On the Du River where virgin forest had lately been cleared and burned 
so that the bare earth was exposed over a number of acres, we found that several 
species of open-country birds were already coming in, although the area was 
nearly surrounded by long stretches of tall woods. Thus there were several 
small groups of Gould’s Pipits (Anthus leucophrys gouldi) feeding on the ground; 
one or two pairs of the large: Reed Warbler (Cisticola lateralis) haunted the 
edges of the less barren spots, and sang cheerily from the tops of stumps that 
still remained standing; the common ground doves (Turtur afer kilimensis) 
walked about to pick up various bits of food, and small weaver finches, es- 
pecially the black and white Lepidopygia, came to drink at the brook or pools 
exposed by clearing away the trees. Where the trees had been felled some 
time before, a thicket of low shrubs, vines and tall weeds was already springing 
up, making suitable places for the Red and Black Weavers (Pyromelana) to 
hang their nests in the weed tops, while in the bushy thickets were a few pairs 
of Grass Warblers (Prinia), and perching on the tops of bushes an occasional 
Spurred Coucal (Centropus senegalensis), birds for which this area would have 
been quite unsuitable before clearing. In places where clearing and cultivation 
have been going on for a good many years, parts of the cleared spaces gradu- 
ally revert to bushy growth again, and later to low scrubby forest, which in 
contrast to the primeval forest, is singularly barren, even the usual thicket- 
dwellers more or less deserting it. Along the borders of the higher woods and 
about the rice-fields, however, there are often scattered trees or remnants of 
the older growth that attract many birds, either passing visitors from the 
nearest forest or those of more open country such as various hawks, rollers, 
