378 



EASTERN ETHIOPIA 



XXX 



occasion Neumann saw a rose-coloured bee-eater try to 

 use a stork as a steed, but it would not submit to be 

 ridden. 



It is a common belief that the birds of the Ethiopian 

 are deficient in song. Livingstone did not 



Region 



The Crested Bustard (Eupodotis kori) with the Bee-eater 

 (Merops nubicm) riding it like a jockey. The two median 

 elongated rectricesare conspicuous in the flying bird. (From 

 A. H. Neumann's Elephant Hunting.) 



share this opinion, for he wrote : " African birds have 

 not been wanting in song, they have only lacked poets 

 to sing their praises, which ours have had from the time 

 of Aristophanes downwards. Ours have had a classic 

 and a modern interest to enhance their fame." 



Many English birds delight us by their habits and 

 associations ; a few charm us with song, but many 

 make noises which can scarcely be called music, for 

 example, crows, rooks, cranes and jays. The son^s, 

 noises and tricks of birds have been celebrated in 



