Review.



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funny they look in their brilliant plumage seated on the backs of

their dignified steeds, which never shake them off or bother them¬

selves about them. From the back of the bustard they keep a sharp

look-out for insects and flies, and when they spy one they dart after

it, and having devoured it, fly back again to the bustard’s back. I

have often seen them riding on the backs of goats and antelopes as

well as of bustards.”*


On p. 51 she says of the Sun-birds :


“ I used to see hundreds of these brilliant creatures darting

about in the dazzling light, or hanging on to the bright yellow

trumpet flowers which grow in clusters on a shrub in most of the

gardens in Parkland. They are very like humming birds, and

amazingly metallic in colouring. They never stay still, because,

unlike the humming birds, they can’t poise themselves in the air.

I used to watch them pecking with their long, black pointed bills at

the ends of the flowers, quite close to the stems, to tap their honey,

as the trumpets were too long for them to get their beaks down to

the treasure trove.”


The book contains some zoological errors. Aviculturally, we

may note that there are no Humming-birds in Africa, though on

p. 94 such is asserted ; in general zoology, Haartbeest should be

spelt “ Hartebeest ” (p. 44); i. e. “ Stag-Ox,” from the Dutch

“ Hart ” = Stag, not “ Haart ” = Hard. The Springbok is unknown

in East Africa ; the animal mentioned on p. 146 was probably a

Gazelle. On p. 113 the authoress states that no one has ever heard

of African elephants being tamed. This is unfortunate, as we have

before us a photograph of the troop of tame African elephants at the

Belgian post of Api. The photograph of the King of Uganda is not

a good likeness of His Highness as we remember him.


These errors will no doubt be corrected in some future edition.

This is everybody’s book. G. R.



This paragraph supplies the information asked for in the paper on African

Vultures—‘ Avic. i\Iag.,’ December, l l J17, p. 53. —G. K.j.



