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RUPPELLS VULTURE. 



CHAPTER IV 



The Birds of Ethiopian Africa 



A CONSIDERABLE percentage of the bird-fauna of the geographical region under 

 consideration is formed by species which breed in Europe or northern Asia and 

 migrate southwards at the commencement of the northern winter to seek a second 

 summer in Africa. To refer to such species in this chapter would be superfluous, as 

 many of them have been mentioned under the headings of Europe and Asia, while 

 they are in no wise characteristic of the Ethiopian region. Attention may 

 accordingly be concentrated on a limited number of groups or species of birds more 

 or less completely restricted to the Ethiopian region, and of special interest on 

 account of their habits, distribution, or affinities. 



In the great group of perching-birds, or Passeres, a prominent 

 position is occupied in Africa by the gorgeously coloured sun-birds 

 (Nectar iniidce), which are widely distributed in the Old World, and recall the 

 humming-birds of America, with which, however, they have no relationship. 

 Among the African representatives of the family, the long-tailed Promerops caffer 

 attracts attention by the great elongation of the tail, in which the feathers are 



Perching-Birds. 



