THE BIRDS OF LIBERIA 745 
Biittikofer recorded this oriole as common in forests at various localities 
where he and his associates collected as at Schieffelinsville, Soforé Place, Cape 
Mount, Jarjee, and on the Junk and Mesurado rivers, but some of these birds 
may have been the following which was not at that time distinguished as a 
separate species. A male shot by Whitman at Kaka Town on August 16 was the 
only one we observed. No doubt its habitat like that of the other species is the 
more open forest. 
Oriolus nigripennis J. and E. Verreaux. Black-winged Oriole 
Oriolus (Baruffius) nigripennis J. and E. Verreaux, Journ. f. Orn., vol. 3, p. 105, 1855: Gaboon. 
Size of the preceding; head and throat black; back, rump, and outer edges of secondaries and 
all their coverts olive yellow; primaries black with narrow white outer edges; two middle pairs 
of tail-feathers black narrowly tipped with yellow; breast, belly, and under tail-coverts golden 
yellow; iris red-brown. Sierra Leone to Loango and the Lakes. 
Although Kemp has recorded this bird from Bo, Sierra Leone, it has not 
hitherto been definitely reported from Liberia. We first saw it in the interior at 
Banga, where in the late afternoon of October 22 a pair appeared in a large tree 
with many dead branches, directly behind the village. The male made known 
his presence by melodious single notes, not very loud. The mate soon appeared 
in the same tree, and seemed by its actions in examining certain branches to be 
looking for a nesting site. Two days later at the same place, a third was seen. 
It flew from a thicket near the village road into an open tree, where it perched 
in rather nervous fashion, frequently changing its location and calling o-ri’-o in 
melodious tones. Another bird was seen in some tall, thick trees at the edge of 
the forest near Bomboma. It is evidently a forest-dweller, living singly and in 
pairs. 
DICRURIDAE Drongo Flycatchers 
Dicrurus assimilis atactus Oberholser. Fork-tailed Drongo 
Dicrurus modestus atactus Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 22, p. 35, 1899: Fanti. 
Length 10 inches; tail conspicuously forked, its outer feathers with the tips turned outward; 
entire plumage black with steely blue reflections (instead of greenish as in the typical form). 
Iris red. West Africa, Liberia to the Niger. 
This flycatcher-like starling is a fairly common bird in Liberia, frequenting 
the open forest, or its edges, often coming about the native villages in the large 
trees, or haunting the borders of shaded pools of water. Biittikofer, who col- 
lected it at a number of places, says that he has seen it sometimes in flocks of as 
many as ten to twenty individuals in low forest, but in our experience it 1s usu- 
ally to be found singly or in pairs. Like other flycatchers it watches for passing 
insects from a commanding perch, usually a dead branch, launching forth into 
the air after them. Biittikofer mentions its harsh voice, but in general it is a 
silent bird. Reichenow does not recognize this as a valid race. 
Dicrurus atripennis Swainson. Even-tailed Drongo 
Dicrurus atripennis Swainson, Birds West Africa, vol. 1, p. 256, 1837: Sierra Leone. 
Size of a thrush, 8 inches; tail not forked; entire plumage black with steely blue reflections 
above and below. Gambia to Gaboon. 
