EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
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birds, touracos, parrots, kingfisbers and glossy starlings 
are very beautiful. Some are remarkable for their 
grotesqueness ; among them the whale-headed stork, 
skimmer, hornbill, flamingo and the saddle-billed stork. 
Eccentricity of plumage is noteworthy in a few, such 
as the nightjars (goat-suckers), weaver finches, egrets, 
and hammer-heads. 
The first thing about Ethiopian birds that attracted 
my attention was the number of them that had peculiarly 
narrow tapering tails, and two which had a super¬ 
abundance of tail feathers. During my stay in Nairobi 
the grass on the unoccupied land around the town was 
in flower and seed. These grass patches were the 
favourite resorts of large numbers of weaver birds, 
especially those known as Jackson’s Whydah birds. In 
shape, size, and colour these birds resemble sparrows. 
At the bleeding season the feathers of the cock undergo 
an extraordinary change, they become quite black with 
the exception of the long feathers of the wings, and the 
tail feathers elongate out of all proportion to their 
previous condition. When the bird flies the tail 
feathers spread out like a parachute and arch in a 
peculiar way so that it seems to float rather than 
to fly through the air. When the bird alights these 
long feathers diverge and cause it as much inconveni¬ 
ence as a long court train does to a lady when she seeks 
refuge in a four-wheeled cab. In addition to the 
extravagant growth of the rectrices, the primaries and 
secondaries undergo a compensatory enlargement to 
balance the bird in flight. 
It is not uncommon around Nairobi to see a score of 
these long-tailed finches floating by means of their 
feathery parachutes over a grass plot. At the end of 
the breeding season these long plumes drop off and the 
cock, in the matter of plumage, is similar to the hen. 
These birds have two sexual seasons annually. 
Mr. F. J. Jackson carefully studied these birds, and 
points out that the cocks of D. jachsoni make circular 
