668 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
at the shoulders and do not appear to rest close at the sides as in other birds,” 
Lowe (Bannerman, 1912) seems to have found them in slightly different situ- 
ations on the coast of southern Liberia for he noted that they were plentiful on 
the lagoons where as many as fifty or sixty were seen together. We did not meet 
with the species, but possibly the high water at the time of our visit may have 
restricted them to certain parts of the larger streams. 
BURHINIDAE Thick-knees or Stone Curlews 
Burhinus vermiculatus biittikoferi (Reichenow). West African Water Dikkop or Stone Curlew 
Oedicnemus biittikoferi Reichenow, Orn. Monatsb., vol. 5, p. 182, 1898: Fisherman Lake, Liberia. 
Length about 15 inches with short thick bill; above barred and on head streaked with blackish 
brown on a pale grayish-brown ground; a white band above and one below the eye; below white, 
streaked on sides with dark; iris yellow, feet greenish to blue-gray. Liberia to Eastern Uganda. 
We obtained no evidence of this species in the interior of Liberia, but it seems 
to be common at times in favored localities on the coast. Buttikofer (1885, 
p. 232) collected two specimens near Cape Mount, the one at Buluma near Fisher- 
man Lake in March, the other on a sand bank near the mouth of the Marfa 
River, August 18. It is found here only in the dry season when a large extent 
of sand flats is exposed in this region and the waters of the lake are somewhat 
brackish supporting small crustaceans upon which the birds feed. The same 
naturalist on his later visit secured it near Robertport on the seashore, and in 
southern Liberia, Lowe found it common on some of the lagoons, as well as 
occasionally on the coast, as at Nana Kru, December 31, 1910 (Bannerman, 
1912). 
JACANIDAE Jacanas 
Actophilornis africanus (Gmelin). African Jagana or Lily-trotter 
Parra africana Gmelin, Syst. Nat., ed. 13, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 709, 1789: Abyssinia. 
Rail-like with long toes, a spur at the bend of wing, and a forehead plate; length 10.5 inches; 
crown and neck shining blue-black; sides of head and neck white, throat shining yellow; body and 
tail reddish brown, wings black; bill and forehead plate blue-gray, feet paler. African continent. 
The only record seems to be that of Sir Harry Johnston who collected a 
specimen at Grand Bassa, St. John’s River, in 1888. It seems to be a bird of 
not very retiring habits so that it would probably have been well known to such 
careful collectors as Biittikofer and his associates if it were common in Liberia. 
In Sierra Leone Thompson (1925) found it common “‘up country,”’ among water 
lilies and aquatic herbage of almost any large pond. 
STERCORARIIDAE Jaegers 
Stercorarius parasiticus (Linné). Parasitic Jaeger 
Larus parasiticus Linné, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, p. 136, 1758: coasts of Sweden. 
Gull-like, length about 20 inches; top of head, body above, wings and tail dark brow n; edge 
of forehead, cheeks, sides of neck, nape and under ‘aide white, wached with yellowish, and aut 
