August/December 1 997 
33 
References 
Baker, B. H. (1958). Geology of the Magadi Area. 
Geological Survey of Kenya Report no. 42. 81 pp. 
Wirth, W.W. (1 975). A revision of the brine flies of the 
genus Ephydra of the Old World (Diptera: 
Ephydridae). Entomologica Scand 6, 1 1-44. 
Jo Darlington, University Museum of Zoology 
Cambridge CB23EJ, UK 
been due to the finding of a new food source, i.e. the 
young pawpaw leaves. Premating behaviour is very 
obvious and includes mutual feeding and preening, 
followed by an amusing display by the male and even, 
at times, by the female, and ending in copulation. It 
cannot be confused for anything else. The nests are 
usually built in bush about l»/ 2 to 3 m off the ground. 
For a more detailed and extremely interesting description 
of mousebird behaviour, read the section in Birds of 
Africa, Vol 111, by C.H. Fry, et al., pp. 251-253 available 
in the EANHS Library. (The Editor) 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
WERE THE MOUSEBIRDS MATING? 
How and where do speckled mousebirds Colius striatus 
breed and nest? A while ago on two consecutive days 
I observed a flock of about 20 birds suspended on the 
telephone wire with a lot of twittering and general 
excitement. After a while the scenario seemed to get 
•lore excited and many of the birds were hanging 
opposite each other belly to belly. Sometimes a third 
mrd Would muscle in and push another away from his 
opposite number. If there was mating, it was too quick to 
observe but the procedure certainly looked very- “sexy”. 
Of course, how would a male mount a female if she 
hangs more or less upside down on the wire? It seemed 
a logical solution. Every- now and again some of the 
birds flew across to the nearby pawpaw tree Carica 
papaya and pecked on the pawpaw leaves which now 
resemble a fishing net as only the ribs were left. It appears 
is though the pawpaw leaves gave them strength to 
-ontinue with their occupation. After about two hours 
they all flew away. Apart from those two days I have 
not observed this again and the remaining pawpaw 
leaves are intact. 
Can the experts confirm my suspicion that it was a 
mating orgy? 
Christa v. Kalckstein 
PO. box 45161, Nairobi 
MOUSEBIRD CLUSTERING BEHAVIOUR 
As appealing as it would be to think the above described 
mousebird behaviour was an orgy, I fear it isn’t. 
Mousebirds are extremely gregarious and live in flocks 
of up to 30 birds (averaging around 8- 1 0 ) and clustering 
•eems to serve an important social function for them. 
When the weather is wet or cold (and at night), the 
whole flock may cluster very- tightly together. Pat Frere 
(pers. comm.) could get these birds to form extremely 
large clusters by showering them with the hosepipe. 
While the purpose of this behaviour often is simply to 
warm each other, even when it isn’t raining or cold 
mousebirds will form small clusters which is what was 
seen by Ms v. Kalckstein. The excitement may have 
ELEPHANTS IN LIMURU— AGAIN! 
In September 1989. 1 sent a report to you about 2 
elephants (mother and half-grown son) who visited the 
tea estates in Limuru and spent some time on the late 
Tiny Kingsford’s estate there. I mentioned at the time 
that, although I have lived in Limuru since 1 925, 1 had 
never seen, or heard of, elephants visiting the settled 
areas here. 
The press reported a second visitation of elephants 
in September 1 997— this time it was a larger herd of 1 6, 
which had evidently come in from the Uplands or 
Aberdare Forests. I was unfortunately absent at the 
time, but returned a day or two later, to see their 
footmarks in the cultivated tea and tracks near our 
house. 
The herd appeared on Kiawaroga tea estates and 
this time they were seen by a number of workers and 
their children. Once again the elephants did little, if any, 
damage, to crops, and allowed themselves to be escorted 
away peacefully by rangers from Kenya Wildlife Service. 
Unfortunately, however, there was a report later in 
the local press that a child had been killed by a lone 
elephant in the Limuru area, who may, or may not, have 
been part of the same herd on its way back to the forest. 
The elephant was shot by the KWS— a sad ending to 
what had been at first another friendly visit. 
H.S. Morton, Mabrouke Estate, Box 1 , Limuru, Kenya 
REQUEST FROM THE EDITOR 
URBAN WILDLIFE 
Over the years, we have had a number of articles about 
urban wildlife. These have been extremely popular. For 
instance, the article on jumping spiders had a very 
positive response from readers. 
In the future, I would like to start a section in the 
Bulletin which features writers observations in their 
“own backyards”. These observations can be on 
anything that strikes your interest, from things like the 
jumping spider which the author observed while working 
on his computer to road kills such as those reported 
some years ago by Adrian Lewis. And please don’t 
think you have to concentrate only on birds and 
