Abstract
Summary.: A short account is given of what has hitherto been known of the birds of the islands of SÁo Tomé and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea. A short visit was paid to these islands in September and October 1949. Field notes are presented on a number of species, about which nothing has previously been written. It is shown that the land birds of the two islands are strikingly different, and that on both islands it is the endemic species which are most abundant, while the non‐endemic species seem to be more liable to extinction. There is evidence that a great outburst of breeding was commencing at the time of the visit, which coincided with the end of the dry season.