EXPERIENCES IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 
721 
to cat and were a welcome change after the endless menus 
of Hartebeeste meat : the bird life at this camp was especially 
wonderful and I got several most interesting new species ; on 
the hills three or four miles beyond our tents were patches of 
thick lorest with beautiful open glades, and here were birds 
of all descriptions ; birds strange of form, of plumage and of 
flight. Many of them utterly unknown to me. There were 
Woodpeckers, and Barbets, Bulbuls and Orioles with clear 
flute-like notes, Sunbirds flashing like green and gold jewels 
as they hovered first at one flower then at another; almost 
more gorgeous was an exquisite little azure Kingfisher (Corv- 
thornis cyanostigma). There were quaint Hornbills with their 
big, unwieldy bills, blue Rollers and three or four species of 
Cuckoo, huge grey Eagle Owls, Buzzards and Hawks of many 
different kinds, while troops of small green Monkeys rushed 
screaming from tree to tree. I shot one and she fell on to the 
ground looking pathetically human with her tiny baby clinging 
to her breast. I kept the little one alive and I have him now. 
and a charming little creature he is, being perfectly tame and 
confiding. We left Bondoni on the 25th, and on the way 
back to Theki I shot a Zebra, a Serval Cat and a rare black 
and white Babbling Thrush (Crateropus Jtvpoleucus). 
I spent the following day in cam}) drying birds’ skins, 
writing up notes and trying to arrange more satisfactory cages 
for the rather large stock of live animals and birds I had by 
now accumulated. Our native porters and boys were begin- 
ning to learn that I gave money in exchange for live creatures 
and they constantly used to bring me things which they had 
caught in snares which they are rather clever at setting, and 
so I had quite a variety of rigged-up cages containing some 
rare birds and a large miscellaneous collection of live Snakes, 
Lizards and Frogs : while my traps which I always kept going 
generally contained something of interest each morning ; 
one day I found a most remarkable Mouse in one of them, 
with a short nose and a very long bushy tail, like a squirrel : 
another morning a little chestnut-coloured Mongoose was 
caught, not much bigger than an ordinary Rat, this proved to 
be a rare species and I have it alive at the present time ; 
