400 ZOOLOGY 



crimson-breasted barbet, found in all the well-wooded regions of the- 

 Protectorate, and illustrated in this book. 



Honey-guides {Indicator^ are present, but one does not hear much from 

 the natives of their services in leading man to the hives of wild bees,, 

 though the practice is not unknown to the natives. There is a very 

 common and very handsome species of })urple and white cuckoo (amongst 

 many other birds of this tribe). The mouse birds (Colius) play in every 

 thicket, but I have not noticed them as present in the dense tropical 

 forests. 



Amongst the most beautiful and remarkable birds of the Uganda 

 Protectorate must certainly be named the great blue plantain-eater. 

 This bird, which is called scientifically Corythceola cristata, is the 

 largest member of that remarkable group of purely African birds which 

 are known as the plantain-eaters or turacos. The family of the turacos 

 (Musophagidce) occupies a rather central position in the classification of 

 birds. The nearest relations of the group are with the cuckoos, but there 

 are also interesting affinities to Opisthocomu&* to the parrots, and perhaps 

 also to the gallinaceous birds. There is a remarkable superficial resem- 

 blance between the species now illustrated — the great blue plantain-eater 

 and the tree-haunting gallinaceous curassows of South America. As already 

 stated, the range of the Musophagidce is confined to Africa south of 

 the Sahara Desert. It is a remarkable fact that all its genera ar& 

 represented in the Uganda Protectorate, a fact which cannot be cited 

 of any other part of Africa, for here the western, eastern, and southern 

 forms all meet. Here we have the prince of the order, the great blue 

 plantain-eater (CorytJueola), the violaceous plantain-eater {Musophagct), 

 the grey plantain-eater (Schizorhis), the Gymnoschizorhis, the Gallirex,. 

 and the turaco (Corythaix). The great blue plantain-eater is found in 

 Uganda proper, and thence westwards throughout the Congo basin. It 

 is a very bold bird, rather preferring the vicinity of human habitations 

 than averse to the proximity of man. Through the hours of daylight 

 it is for ever shouting, boo-hooing, braying, and shrieking from 

 the branches of big trees. It is perpetually })ursuing its comrades or 

 mates with sportive leaps from branch to branch. When too closely 

 observed by man, the bird has a woodpecker-like habit of dodging round 

 the bole of a tree, keeping out of sight and out of aim. The female in 

 this genus (unlike the others) is distinctly smaller than the male and 

 much more dingily coloured. In size the male bird is equal to a large 

 pheasant. 



The hornbills are well represented. There is the strange-looking ground 



* A strange and primitive type of tree-haunting bird frequenting the forests of 

 Soiitli America — the " boatsin." 



