376 EASTERN ETHIOPIA xxx 



The sunbirds with their metallic colouration form 

 exquisite pictures as they flit about in the sunshine 

 or hang in all sorts of positions about the stems 

 of flowering plants, for they are unable to poise them- 

 selves in the air like humming-birds. The Tecoma 

 is a flowering shrub common in the gardens around 

 Nairobi ; it has clusters of fairly large trumpet- shaped 

 yellow flowers. The perianth of these flowers is too 

 deep to permit the sunbird to reach the fund us with 

 its beak, so the bird overcomes this difliculty by 

 pecking a hole in the perianth just above its fundus, 

 and thus obtains easy access to the nectar and the 

 insects it contains. 



In some species of sunbirds the middle pair of tail 

 feathers is greatly elongated, and makes this beautiful 

 bird very conspicuous as it flits from flower to flower, 

 usually with the hen, in a restless manner. 



Among the latest additions to our knowledge of 



. . 



Ethiopian birds with a long narrow tail is a beautiful 



sunbird, Nectarinia dartmouthi, found in flocks on the 

 lobelia and groundsel zone of Ruwenzori at an elevation 

 of 12,500 feet up to 14,500 feet. These birds feed on 

 the lobelias. In the Report of the Ruwenzori Expedition 

 it is described as a very pretty sight to see them clinging 

 to the side of the tall flower-spikes (see p. 240) ; their 

 legs held horizontally so as to keep the body away from 

 the flowers, they swiftly probe the long, pale-blue tubes 

 of the blossom with their curved beaks. The males are 

 incessantly fighting with one another, or flirting with 

 the females, and each pair seems to claim a district as its 

 own, from which all trespassers are harshly and noisily 

 chased. They show little or no fear of man, and one ac- 

 tually settled upon the barrel of Mr. Carruther's gun 

 while he was standing still. 



This reference to each pair of birds claiming a district 

 and driving away trespassers is interesting, for when 

 birds fight the combats are commonly regarded as " rows 

 about hens, " whereas they are often " struggles for 



