FINCHES—SUNBIRDS 177 



beautiful brightly coloured birds, which could hardly 

 escape notice. 



The Fringillidae, or Finches, would doubtless be of much 

 interest to an ornithologist, but I have little knowledge, 

 and less to say, about them. Noteworthy varieties on the 

 islands are Sparrows, " Enkazalugya " {Passer griseus), of 

 which very few were ever seen ; possibly the absence of 

 mankind has something to do with this. Another notable 

 absentee is a curious rotund little grass finch, which is 

 abundant at Jinja and Entebbe. The cock bird when 

 adult is black and white, and has very long floating tail 

 feathers which appear to hinder his flight. He flits for a 

 short distance over the grass with an up and down motion, 

 uttering feeble chirps, accompanied by a flock of brown, 

 insigniflcant looking individuals, which I always took for 

 females. Mr. C. F. Belcher, however, tells me that most 

 of them are immature males. 



A very common and pretty little flnch is often seen 

 hopping about on the ground at Entebbe and Jinja ; 

 of a reddish pink or old rose colour, it is often nicknamed 

 the " animated plum." It is about the size of a red plum, 

 and agrees with one very well in hue. 



Another species, much like it in habits and shape, is 

 grey and blue. Neither of these have been met with on 

 the islands. 



The pretty little Sunbirds (Nectarirdidae) are abundant 

 on the islands, though I know not how many species are 

 found there. On certain very small islets they and wagtails 

 are the chief part of the bird fauna, but this depends upon 

 whether their favourite food plant is there. This is a 

 labiate, which sends up tall stems bearing scarlet flowers 

 arising from a knob. These knobs are set at intervals 

 up the stem, and when the flowers are withered and the 

 seeds develop are unpleasantly spiky to knock against. 



Wherever a cluster of these plants grows, a sunbird 

 is sure to be seen clinging on to the stem and thrusting 



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