THE BIRDS OF LIBERIA 727 
This is doubtless the same as Laniarius cruentus of Chubb’s list obviously 
based on Biittikofer’s record of a bird from the Sulima River across the border 
in Sierra Leone. Kemp (1905) has recorded it from Bo in the southeastern part 
of the same country, but the capture of an adult female at Gbanga, September 25, 
1926, seems to be the first actual record for Liberia. It was shot in a tangle of 
vines among low trees by a small river, and was the only individual seen. 
Lanius collaris smithii (Fraser). Black and White Shrike 
Collurio smithii Fraser, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1843, p. 16: Cape Coast. 
A small, slender shrike, 8 inches long; above, shining black with white shoulder-patches and a 
white spot at base of primaries; tail strongly graduated, the outer feathers with white tips; under 
parts pure white. West Coast to Congo. 
This is the common and conspicuous black and white shrike that is almost 
invariably found, one pair or rarely two, about the edges of village clearings, 
perching familiarly on the fences, roof poles, or low trees on the outskirts of the 
clusters of huts or along the clearings. We saw it all the way across Liberia, but 
always as a hanger-on of man, haunting the vicinity of his villages. At Gbanga 
a fledgling in juvenal plumage was taken, September 11, that was dull reddish 
brown above, whitish below, and everywhere barred with blackish. It is curious 
that Biittikofer does not include but a single record of this species, namely, one 
taken at Robertport by his collector. Possibly it has increased locally in the 
last fifty years. Although probably this is chiefly an insectivorous species, I 
once saw one chase a small bird. 
MOTACILLIDAE. Wagtails 
Motacilla aguimp Dumont. African Pied Wagtail 
Motacilla aguimp Dumont, Dict. des Sci. Nat., vol. 21, p. 226, 1821: Orange River, Namaqualand. 
Slender, length 7.5 inches; blackish gray above; eye-stripe, throat, breast, middle wing- 
coverts, edges of secondaries, and the two outer tail-feathers white; ear patch, a band across the 
breast, the rest of the wings and tail black. Africa generally, south of the Sahara. 
It has been shown that Dumont’s name replaces the familiar M. vidua for 
this bird. The species is another example of a bird with restricted habitat, for 
it is usually found in pairs along the bare rocks and sand banks of large streams, 
and by the sides of rapids and falls. We saw it on the St. Paul’s River at Paiata, 
where a pair frequented the small projecting rocky ledges in the stream. One 
specimen was shot at a distance of a mile or two from the river on a fallen 
tree-trunk in a clearing, an occurrence unusual not only because of the distance 
from any stream but also for there being but a single bird (a male), instead of a 
pair. Both Biittikofer and Oberholser have recorded the species from its usual 
haunts along the rivers, as the St. Paul’s, the Du, St. John’s, Cess, and Sino, as 
well as two from the Farmington River. 
