108 DENIZENS OF THE FOREST 



chest, the remainder of the under-parts being bright 

 crimson. The female has the side of the head, throat 

 and chest of a yellow-brown instead of green. 



It ranges from the Gamtoos River in the Cape, through 

 Natal on the East to Southern Abyssinia, and reappears 

 in Angola on the West Coast. 



It is a denizen of thick bush or forest where it sits 

 quite still or creeps about searching for the insects which 

 form its chief article of food. It is a scarce bird and 

 little is known of its habits. 



PLANTAIN-EATERS. 



The Family Musopliagidce (Plantain Eaters) contains 

 some of the handsomest birds in South Africa, the best 

 known of which is the Knysna Plantain Eater or 

 Common Lourie (Turacus corythaix). It is too well 

 known with its green plumage, white-tipped crest and 

 red and black wing feathers to need any detailed de- 

 scription. 



It is a thorough forest-loving species, frequenting the 

 wooded kloofs, where its loud hoarse croaking cry can 

 be heard morning and evening. It lives on wild fruits 

 of various kinds, and builds a flat nest of sticks from 6 

 to 16 feet above the ground, and usually lays two eggs 

 of a pure white colour and rounded oval in shape. 

 The peculiar part of the red colouring matter of the 

 wings is that it contains a large amount of copper (about 

 7 per cent.), originally analysed by Professor Church. 

 A friend of ours, a chemist of the dynamite factory, con- 

 firmed the copper content of the feathers, but with regard 

 to the theory that the red can be washed out with soap 

 and water, we are sorry to say we cannot confirm this 

 in toto. It certainly does get paler during wet weather 



