THE BIRDS OF LIBERIA 645 
MIGRANTS FROM EUROPE 
Liberia seems to lie somewhat outside the path of species migrating from 
the northern countries to central or southern Africa for the winter. The few 
that do appear with regularity are the common European Swallow and the 
Yellow Wagtail, both of which winter. Others are less common and probably 
reach Liberia in small numbers or irregularly, while the bulk of the southward 
flight passes to the east, avoiding the forested areas. Of such are the European 
Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), the Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius), the 
European Swift (Apus apus), the Winchat (Sazicola rubetra) and such Euro- 
pean warblers as the Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, and the 
Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). The Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) 
and the Pale Harrier (Circus macrourus) are birds that in winter just reach 
the open country in the northern part of Liberia. Coastwise, several species 
of shorebirds pass along the Liberian shore to winter in the south of Africa. 
Among these are the European Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), the 
Kentish Plover (C. alexandrinus), the Gray Plover (Squatarola squatarola), 
the Greenshank (Tinga nebularia), the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), and 
a few species of sandpiper, including an occasional Turnstone (Arenaria inter- 
pres), the Curlew Sandpiper (KHrolia testacea), and the Common Sandpiper 
(Actitis hypoleucos). The presence of these species is more or less conditioned 
by the occurrence of suitable areas of tidal flats or sand banks exposed at the 
mouths of rivers. The region about Fisherman Lake and Cape Mount was 
found especially favorable for such shore-loving species by Bittikofer. 
Of species more strictly confined to the open sea, there is a single record 
for the Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) but the species is undoubtedly 
of regular occurrence offshore as a wintering bird for on our return trip by 
steamer from Liberia to London, numbers were seen in early November at no 
great distance north of the Liberian coasts. Of special interest, too, are the 
records of Stormy Petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus) and Leach’s Petrel (Oceano- 
droma leucorrhoa), both of which breed in the North Atlantic and in winter 
wander to an unknown distance southward, while the Wilson’s Petrel (Ocean- 
ites oceanicus), conversely, is common off the Liberian coasts in the summer 
months as a wanderer from the Antarctic Ocean. The Common Tern (Sterna 
hirundo) and the Sandwich Tern (S. sandvicensis) occur in varying numbers 
as visitors from the north along the coasts and probably also the Parasitic 
Jaeger will be found to be of regular occurrence as a wintering species and 
sometimes as a summer bird in the case of immature individuals. 
LocaL MIGRATIONS 
Among the strictly African species there are a few which seem to leave 
Liberia more or less regularly during the time when the heaviest rains come 
on, and return again to breed later in the season. Such is the White-throated 
Bee-eater (Aérops albicollis) which in Liberia as well as in Sierra Leone is absent 
during the summer months but returns about the last of October after the 
