KENYA (1) 127 
To descend from the plains into one of these ravines is almost like 
going to another country as far as bird-life is concerned. Instead 
of seeing pipits, larks, whydahs and other plains-loving species, 
one comes across denizens of the jungle such as Hartlaub’s Tour- 
acos, Narina Trogons, White-headed Wood-hoopoes, White- 
starred Bush-robins, and many bulbuls, zosterops and flycatchers. 
There was one of these forest-clad gorges quite near the Wards’ 
house, and the suddenness of the change of animal-life was amaz- 
ing. After going fifty yards away from the typical highland grass- 
land, one saw the beautiful black-and-white colobus monkeys in 
the trees with their long flowing hair harmonizing perfectly with 
the long tufts of usnea hanging from the boughs. 
A good proportion of the trees were wild olives, which at a 
certain season are laden with berries. These olives are oily and 
very bitter to the taste but are relished by a number of birds, in 
fact many seem to feed on them exclusively when available. Dur- 
ing my visit there was a sudden influx of Olive Pigeons and Masai 
Red-headed Parrots. The former are large, strikingly handsome 
birds and get their name not from their color but from their 
feeding-habits. The flavor of their flesh is said to be so affected 
during the olive season that it is too bitter to be edible. So used 
to eating olives are these birds that it is difficult to get them to 
take anything else when newly captured. 
Wild olives are not as a rule ideal trees in which to set hanging 
nets; but there was one exception in the heart of this sunken 
forest. It was a very old specimen with gnarled and twisted trunk 
and wide-spreading branches. Through the crown of this I man- 
aged to set my long large-mesh net, which allowed most of the 
unwanted smaller fry to pass through without getting caught. My 
biggest headache was when trying to extricate a pair of Red- 
headed Parrots from it. This meant standing on a branch and 
employing both hands to try and disentangle the wings and legs 
from the net, and eventually get the bird out of the pocket formed 
by its impact. This is difficult enough in such a situation with any 
struggling bird, but with something that is capable of biting like 
a bulldog at every attempt to free it, one needs to be a tight-rope 
walker-cum-juggler. 
As soon as the olive crop is thinned out to the extent that birds 
