MOZAMBIQUE TERRITORY (II) 47 
to fruit-eating birds. Fruit, to be attractive to birds, must be dif- 
ferent from that which they already have access to, however nice 
it may be, and it is of little use putting a trap in a fruit-bearing 
tree, baited with the same kind of fruit. It is also very difficult, 
contrary to popular belief, to find attractive wild fruits in the 
tropics, so it was with the idea of overcoming this obstacle that, 
before leaving England, I visited a large store where they kept 
a good stock of artificial fruits and berries. 
I came away with an assortment of wonderful cherries of vari- 
ous colors, strawberries, and some fruits which were evidently 
the product of someone’s imagination. I couldn’t help chuckling 
as I thought of some tropical bird, accustomed to eating half-ripe, 
unattractive-looking berries, being suddenly confronted with this 
delicious assortment. Would its heart stop beating, or would it 
dislocate its neck in its eagerness to get into the trap? I decided 
that the answer probably lay between these two extremes, and the 
bird would walk in like a lamb. 
To try these out, the trap employed was the home-made box 
type of wire-netting with a drop front, and the idea of the experi- 
ment was to capture some Purple-crested Touracos. These are 
particularly handsome birds, and become confidingly tame in 
captivity. They are about the size of a pigeon, with a glossy purple 
head and crest, green under parts, lilac-blue back and tail, and 
coppery-red wings. The latter coloration is the result of a coppery 
substance in the feathers known as turacin, which is said to be 
soluble in water. 
Having located a fruit-bearing tree frequented by several pairs 
of these graceful birds, I fixed a long pole horizontally across the 
center of the tree among the upper branches. Touracos love to 
run along a straight branch while looking for their food, rather 
than clamber around on thin twigs, and their feet are well adapted 
for this purpose. In fact they bound about in trees more like 
monkeys than birds and are always running or jumping. 
The experiment was a great success and I captured two pairs 
of these much-coveted birds. 
Artificial fruit has many advantages in the tropics; it is not 
attacked by ants, and does not get spoiled when a bird is caught, 
so it obviates the need for searching the countryside for something 
