188 



RUWENZOEI AND ITS SNOWS 



or Uganda forests. But the}' contain some handsome trees, not a few of 

 which are remarkable for the brilliant colom* of their flowers. The forests 

 in the tropical zone round Ruwenzori betw^een 4,000 and 7,000 feet are 

 frequented bj' a rare species of colobus monkey, new to science, which 

 has long black hair with a very small proportion of white ; and by what 

 is probably the most beautiful species of the turacos in regard to colora- 

 tion. This bird (Gallirex), which Doggett and myself had the good fortune 

 to discover, has a coloration which includes such tints as pure emerald- 

 green, pale grass-green, deep ultramarine-blue, mother-of-pearl, crimson, 



155- 



AMI HOT Sl'in.Ni.. N(il;TH-\VEST FLANKS OF RUWEXZORI 

 (THE XATIVES ABE BAAMBA) 



purple, and rose colour ! In the lower part of these forests, on the edge 

 of the more cultivated country, a bird very commonly seen is the crimson- 

 breasted barbet. When a number of these scarlet and blue-black birds 

 with large ivory-coloured beaks have collected together on the bare branches 

 of a tree or shrub, they are very noticeable.* In these Euwenzori forests 

 there are extraordinary chameleons of rather large size, which develop 

 horns or grotesque scaly projections like enormous noses. These will 

 be found illustrated in the chapter dealing with zoology. 



* See coloured illustration facing p. 18'^. 



