APES AND PARROTS. 57 



catch. It appears that this ape is found much more frequently 

 in the Monbuttu and Nyam-Nyam districts than here, pro- 

 bably because the thicker woods in those countries afford it 

 greater safety. In 1 8 7 J— J 8 four living specimens were sent 

 from there to Khartum, where they died, and were not made 

 use of in a scientific or any other way. 



The distribution of the parrot {Psittacus erytliacus) coincides 

 with that of the anthropoid ape. The bird is to be seen 

 all over Unyoro flying about in twos and threes. It is a 

 high, heavy flier, screams continuously during its flight, and 

 is one of the earliest birds. Even before sunrise it is heard 

 screeching ; towards midday, however, it vanishes, in order to 

 take its midday rest, and is seen again from four o'clock until 

 the evening. The numerous sycamores provide it with neces- 

 sary food. Possibly, also, it feeds on bananas ; at least some 

 of the specimens I obtained ate this food readily, and preferred 

 it to sugar-cane. The bird is very common in Uganda, and is 

 sometimes kept in the huts, where, without any instruction, it 

 soon learns to speak. In Usoga, where the bird is exceedingly 

 numerous, it is caught in small nets, and the red feathers from 

 its tail are plucked out and used as ornaments. Care is, how- 

 ever, taken that the person performing this operation is un- 

 known to the bird. The feathers are reproduced very slowly. 

 The northern boundary of the distribution of this bird, as well 

 as that of the ape, appears to extend to the second degree of 

 N. lat. Colobus Guereza, which is very common here, exists 

 farther to the north, and I have obtained its skins from the 

 district of Fatiko (3° l f N. lat. ) ; in Luri, too, the ape is very 

 common. Cercopithecus griseo-viridis and C. ruber, as also a 

 third grey species, together with Palceornis citbicidaris, are to 

 be found everywhere, but they become scarcer as we approach 

 the equator. Baboons of several species are common in the 

 mountains. I have been told two or three times that black 

 parrots are to be found ; but as the existence here of the Psittacus 

 Timneh has not been proved, it is probably a dark specimen of 

 P. erythacus that has been seen. Still, it is perfectly true that 

 many new discoveries remain to be made here. 



At midnight the horns were blown — the drum serves only as 

 a war signal — to assemble the porters ; yet at six in the morning 



