Ornithology of the Egyptian Soudan. 303 



partial to the waxy flowers of the Sodom Apple (Calotropis 

 procera). 



2. Nectarinia pulchella (Linn.). 



a. £ . Khartoum, Dec. 17, 1902. 



b. <$. R. Setit, May 7, 1903. 



c. S- „ May 13, 1903. 



d. <$ . Roseires, May 20, 1001, 



This lovely littie Sun-bird is abundant and widely dis- 

 tributed. Eastwards I have found it plentiful at Gallabat, 

 on the Atbara, and on the Setit ; I have seen it as far west as 

 Bara in Kordofan ; southwards it ranges all along the White 

 Nile and Bahr-el-Ghazal ; at Khartoum it is common in the 

 gardens; but it does uot, I think, occur much further north. 



In the bush it feeds principally at the flowers of the 

 acacias, while in Khartoum those of the " Horse-radish tree " 

 [Moringa pterygosperma) and the " Indian Shot " (Canna) are 

 the chief attraction. 



I have seen males in full plumage in every month from 

 September to June, and during the remaining months 

 of the year I have generally been away. In October and 

 November, however, the majority of the males are in transi- 

 tional plumage. 



In October 1904< I was successful in keeping one of these 

 lovely little creatures alive for ten days, at the end of which 

 it escaped in perfect health. I placed it by itself in a cage 

 about a yard square and fed it as follows : — At night I used 

 to put a saucer of honey thinned with water close to my 

 candles. This soon became full of midges and other tiny 

 insects. In the morning I used to pick a bunch of scarlet 

 Canrca-flowers, doctor them liberally with the mixture, and 

 place them in the cage. The bird fed freely at these from 

 the first and became very tame, sometimes settling on the 

 flowers while they were still in my hand. During its captivity 

 a female used regularly to visit the cage and feed at the 

 flowers placed outside it. Eventually the male bird escaped, 

 and two days afterwards the pair commenced a nest on a 

 Parkinsonia-tree just outside my verandah. Unfortunately 



