692 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
Micropus affinis abessynicus (Streubel). Little African Swift 
Cypselus abessynicus Streubel, Oken’s Isis, 1848, col. 354: Abyssinia. 
Form swallow-like; head, wings, tail, and under tail-coverts grayish brown, the body blackish 
with steely reflections; chin, throat and rump-patch white. India and Africa. 
This is a common species about Monrovia and no doubt elsewhere near 
the larger towns on the coast, but it is evident that the birds prefer the town 
with its well-made houses under the overhanging eaves of which their nests 
are freely plastered. We saw many here, but in July the birds seemed all 
to be strong on the wing and were apparently not nesting. Toward evening 
they gradually gathered into companies consisting of both this and the follow- 
ing species, until hundreds were careering about in dense swarms with a thin 
chippering note, finally settling for the night. Exactly where they went we 
did not learn, except that some at least entered small holes near the peaks of 
roofs. From the time that we left Monrovia in July for the interior until our 
return in early November we saw no more of this species, and they are evi- 
dently rather closely limited to the urban situations. On November 19 and 20 
Mr. Whitman secured a pair of adult birds and two well-grown nestlings at 
Monrovia. The latter still retained a few soft drab feathers of the juvenal 
plumage, but the blackish feathers of the first-winter dress were coming in on 
the back. It is noteworthy that Bittikofer does not mention this bird, hence 
it may be that its occurrence in numbers at Monrovia is a development of 
more recent times. 
Tachynautes parvus brachypterus (Reichenow). Palm Swift 
Tachornis parvus brachypterus Reichenow, Vog. Afr., vol. 2, p. 886, 1903: Loango, French Congo. 
Small, length about 6 inches, outer tail-feathers longest; above grayish brown, below somewhat 
paler, throat and lores whitish. Sierra Leone to Angola. 
Like the preceding this swift seems to prefer the vicinity of the coastal 
towns, at all events it was abundant at Monrovia, coursing swiftly about in 
small companies during the day and gathering at sunset into large swarms 
that wheeled back and forth in a more or less concerted manner preparatory 
to going to roost. Apparently it is only locally abundant, for Bittikofer does 
not mention it, and on the southern coast, Lowe (Bannerman, 1912) regarded 
it as rare, for he secured but a single specimen at Nana Kru, January 6, 1911, 
and saw only half a dozen in all. After departing from Monrovia for the in- 
terior, we practically left this species behind, for in the course of our journey 
to the eastern border we saw very few indeed, these usually in small groups 
flying past high overhead. Evidently the native villages have no attraction 
for them back from the coastal palm districts. 
