SOUTH AFRICA 19 
For sheer beauty, various members of the sunbird family prob- 
ably eclipse most of the other brilliantly colored birds which are 
such a feature of the tropics. | 
There are many kinds in Africa, and in the majority the males 
have wonderful iridescent plumage that glitters and changes color 
every time a different angle of view is presented by the bird’s 
movements. They suck nectar from flowers with their long double- 
barbed tongues, and this diet is supplemented with small flying 
insects and spiders. They seem to have some extraordinary ability 
to locate flowers—especially those tubular kinds which contain a 
good supply of nectar—even when these are in the most out-of-the- 
way places and in concealed situations. This is of the same order 
as the vulture’s power of locating a carcass, even when hidden 
under a tree. 
In captivity sunbirds can be kept on a sweet liquid food, which 
is given in a small glass container with a drip-feed spout, so that 
the liquid is extracted only by suction. This prevents it from 
becoming fouled, and the birds from getting the sticky fluid on 
their plumage. There is no recognized standard recipe for making 
up this liquid food but I have found the following very satisfac- 
tory: 
To half a pint of water add 3 teaspoonfuls of Mellin’s Food 
i glucose 
I honey 
I sweetened condensed 
milk 
Y, Haliborange or cod- 
liver oil and malt 
emulsion 
About this time I had mastered the use of flue nets, which are 
indispensable for trapping birds without possible injury. They are 
of different sizes, and are hung in gaps in foliage either near the 
ground or even in treetops; when viewed against a suitable back- 
ground, they are almost invisible. The making of these nets by 
hand is an art which few people can master. Fine but strong black 
cotton is necessary—black being the only color that is inconspicu- 
ous—and the net itself must be free from knots with projecting 
