﻿TACttiNOIDES, NEAR GEIDAM, BORNU PROVINCE, NORTHERN NIGERIA. 199 



We did not see a female deposit a larva within the net, though we noticed half 

 a dozen pregnant females on the ground. The flies did not attempt to feed on 

 the juices of the branches and twigs. No particular kind of branch was specially 

 selected as a resting place, though, as a matter of fact, I never saw a fly on the 

 branch of a tamarind tree. No flies alighted on any branch which was more 

 than 5 feet from the ground, and very few settled above 4 feet. Branches 

 between 6 inches and 2 feet from the ground were those most frequently 

 occupied by the tsetses, and I soon found I had to lie on the ground in order to 

 observe them closely. When flying about the interior of the net, the flies 

 generally were about 2 to 4 feet above the ground, rarely higher. I saw 

 only one fly alight on the roof of the net (about 7 feet above ground), but 

 they several times rested on the sides of the net. 



The insects did not seem to be nearly so timid and easily put to flight when 

 on branches, as when about to bite a human being, and it was remarkable how 

 violently the branches had to be shaken sometimes, in order to make the flies 

 take to the wing. 



These observations were carried on till about 5 p.m. 



13th Nov. — Set up the net in a sunny spot close to the kurimi at 9 a.m. # A 

 boy and I entered the net, taking with us a living monkey, and we liberated 

 about 30 flies within the net. A dozen of these had been kept without food 

 yesterday, and only about 6 of them were strong enough to fly, the others 

 walked on the ground. The monkey at once saw, and ate or pulled to pieces 

 those on the ground. Up till 4 p.m., the monkey had been bitten four times, but 

 on each of these occasions it felt the prick of the proboscis, and making 

 a grab at the spot, drove away the fly before the latter had had time to obtain 

 a meal of blood. One bite was on the forehead, the other three on the abdomen 

 and sides. One other fly alighted on the monkey, who immediately saw it and 

 drove it away. Several times the monkey drove away flies which were evidently 

 about to alight on his coat. 



About 2 p.m., I left the boy to continue observations in the net, while I went 

 into the kurimi with eight men, and we had no difficulty in observing several 

 flies at rest on the under side of small branches, generally within a foot of the 

 ground, and most frequently about 6 inches. The highest one seen was 4 \ feet 

 above the ground. We had to crawl and lie on the ground, in order to see the 

 flies, which always took up positions as indicated. A few we saw on the vertical 

 stems of young ebony trees, of not more than \ inch in diameter. We failed to 

 observe any fly on the ground, but this was possibly due to the extreme difficulty 

 of detecting them in this position. Also, no fly Avas seen on a leaf of any kind. 



Later, the monkey was taken into the kurimi. A native and I remained for 

 an hour, till dark, with the monkey, which was allowed to climb small trees for 

 half an hour, and was afterwards kept sitting quietly on the ground, but we did 

 not see a single tsetse alight on the monkey, although several settled on ourselves. 



Later still, at about 7.30 p.m., when it was quite dark, we again entered the 

 kurimi, and attempted to discover the whereabouts of the flies with the aid of an 

 electric lamp. I took ten men with me, but we did not see a tsetse-fly in the 

 space of an hour, nor were we bitten by them, nor did we even hear them on the 

 wing, although we shook the bushes violently. I am inclined to think that we 



