356 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XXIX 
on plate, livery, and stationery of one who lias been 
dubbed a knight. 
All birds with crests can erect the feathery tuft. 
The most familiar example is the crest of the cockatoo. 
This movement depends on the action of muscular 
tissue in the skin connected with the quills of the crest 
feathers, and a large muscle immediately beneath the 
skin covering the head and nape. 
The feathers on the heads of many birds are larger 
than the contour feathers generally, but do not amount 
to a crest, although the bird can erect them partially 
when excited, courting, or engaged in combat. 
Many birds in Eastern Ethiopia possess beautiful 
crests : some of them will be considered. The chief 
are :—The crowned crane, the hammerhead or tufted 
umbre, the crested lark, some hornbills, the hoopoe, 
mouse birds or colies, the secretary bird, and the 
plantain eaters or touracos. 
The hammerhead (Scopus umbretta) is a curious bird. 
Scopus is the Latin word for broom, and umbre refers to 
its dark brown colour. All who know the bird will admit 
the aptness of both names. This bird frequents woody 
districts near water, wades along the muddy shores of 
lakes and islets usually in pairs, hunting about for fish, 
frogs, molluscs, insects, and worms. When this bird 
erects its crest it looks very weird and justifies the 
natives in suspecting it of witchcraft. 
The umbre roosts in trees, builds a huge nest of 
sticks and stones and lines it with clay, with an entrance 
usually at the side. 
The Secretary bird is interesting in relation with 
names common or scientific, for it has received many. 
The name secretary is supposed to be derived from the 
tuft of long feathers hanging over the back of the head 
and resembling a secretary with a quill feather “ in his 
ear/’ A. NewTon, who has written a critical account of 
the names of this remarkable bird, mentions that it was 
originally called Sagittarius or Archer from its striding 
