644 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
bee-eaters, the common gray bulbul or “Pepper-bird,” so familiar about the 
gardens and open tree growth. On large dead trees the little Brown Flyeatch- 
ers (Artomyzas) find suitable perches, Golden Cuckoos watch from neighboring 
tree tops and the small blackish swallows (Psalidoprocne) are common, skimming 
over the fields and clearings. The presence of native villages still further af- 
fects the species that delight in the vicinity of habitations. These are often 
conspicuous for their tameness and universal presence, evidently deriving some 
benefit in food, protection, or appropriate nesting-sites through human inter- 
ference. Nearly every village large or small has its colony of Hooded Weavers 
(Hyphantornis cucullatus) in the oil-palm or silk-cotton tree in its midst, Thatch 
birds (Spermestes cucullatus) build their nests familiarly in the thick masses of 
roofing thatch of the huts, Long-tailed Wydahs (Vidua macroura) and an occa- 
sional Yellow-naped Weaver (Penthetriopsis) hop or walk about among the scat- 
tered grasses and weeds on the edges of the villages, while the blue and white 
Garden Kingfishers (Halcyon senegalensis fuscopileus) perch on nearby dead limbs 
or even on the roofs of the houses themselves. Nearly every native village has 
a pair of Black and White Shrikes (Lanius collaris smithiz) on its outskirts, 
while Kites (Milvus migrans parasitus) and other hawks as the Harrier Hawk 
(Gymnogenys typicus pectoralis) and especially the black and white Gypohierax 
angolensis, seem commoner as hangers-on in the open country about villages. 
The tilling and planting of the soil te crops of rice and manioc favor the increase 
of a number of species which would otherwise be largely absent. In the rice- 
fields especially the small Grass Warblers abound, and in the eastern part of 
the country the Long-tailed Black Weavers (Coliostruthus concolor) build their 
nests in the longer grain-stalks. The beautiful rosy Fire Finches (Lagonosticta) 
also haunt the edges of rice-fields and a host of weavers of several species resort 
to them for food to the dismay of the natives who during the ripening season 
are much in the fields in their efforts to drive the marauding flocks away. Nearly 
every rice-field also harbors a pair or more of Two-spurred Francolins whose 
guineafowl-like calls may be heard in the early hours of the day. On the coast 
the little Button Quail (Turnix sylvatica alleni) has been taken in old planta- 
tions of manioc. All these species are birds that would not be found over much 
of Liberia were it not that human agency in clearing the land and bringing 
about different conditions of plant growth makes it possible for those birds 
characteristic of such formations to come in and take the place of the forest 
types that have been forced to withdraw. 
In some places we noticed that small swamps formed where the vicinity 
of little brooks had been cleared and these seemed quite barren of bird life. 
Open swampy places, which in our own temperate climate would be a refuge 
for Swamp Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Yellowthroats, Marsh Wrens, Red-winged 
Blackbirds, or similar swamp-loving birds, were to all appearances quite un- 
peopled. This we supposed to be either because no swamp-living birds had 
found these places so that none had moved in, or they may have been more 
or less unlivable for the intense steaming heat where the tropical sun beats 
mercilessly down upon the moist grassy covering of the swamp. 
