376 
EASTERN ETHIOPIA 
XXX 
The sunbirds with their metallic colouration form 
exquisite pictures as they flit about in the sunshine 
or hang in all sorts of positions about the stems 
of flowering plants, for they are unable to poise them¬ 
selves in the air like humming-birds. The Tecoma 
is a flowering shrub common in the gardens around 
Nairobi ; it has clusters of fairly large trumpet-shaped 
yellow flowers. The perianth of these flowers is too 
deep to permit the sun bird to reach the fundus with 
its beak, so the bird overcomes this difficulty by 
pecking a hole in the perianth just above its fundus, 
and thus obtains easy access to the nectar and the 
insects it contains. 
In some species of sunbirds the middle pair of tail 
feathers is greatly elongated, and makes this beautiful 
bird very conspicuous as it Hits from flower to flower, 
usually with the hen, in a restless manner. 
Amonor the latest additions to our knowledge of 
Ethiopian birds with a long narrow tail is a beautiful 
suubird, Nectarinia dartmouthi, found in flocks on the 
lobelia and groundsel zone of Ruwenzori at an elevation 
of 12,500 feet up to 14,500 feet. These birds feed on 
the lobelias. In the Keport of the Euwenzoii Expedition 
it is described as a very pretty sight to see them clinging 
to the side of the tall flower-spikes (see p. 240); their 
legs held horizontally so as to keep the body away from 
the flowers, they swiftly probe the long, pale-blue tubes 
of the blossom with their curved beaks. The males are 
incessantly fighting with one another, or flirting with 
the females, and each pair seems to claim a district as its 
own, from which all trespassers are harshly and noisily 
chased. They show little or no fear of man, and one ac¬ 
tually settled upon the barrel of Mr. Carruther’s gun 
while he was standing still. 
This reference to each pair of birds claiming a district 
and driving away trespassers is interesting, for when 
birds fight the combats are commonly regarded as “ rows 
about hens, ” whereas they are often ‘‘ struggles for 
