C. S. Webb—Some Notes on a Collecting Trip in Kenya 5


(Coracias caudatus), the rare d’Arnaud’s Barbet (Trachyphonus

darnaudii), and the beautiful little Red-fronted Tinker-Barbet

(Pogoniulus pusillus). In this Bush there are still plenty of Buffalo

and that graceful antelope the Impala.


On climbing the escarpment one comes to open Highland plains

(8,000 feet) where the temperature is much lower than in the Rift

Valley, and again one sees game in plenty, especially Zebra, Kongoni,

and Thomson’s Gazelles, which are exceedingly numerous and tame.

Ostriches are also fairly plentiful, and I once saw a herd of sixty-four

Eland, the largest of the African antelopes, which was a beautiful

sight.


An interesting Plover—the Black-winged ( Stephanibyx melanopterus)

—is to be found here and it is very partial to the paddocks where cattle

are herded at night near the homesteads. It was only seen at this

elevation, its place being taken by its near relative, the Crowned

Lapwing (, Stephanibyx coronatus), in the Rift Valley. All the African

Plovers do well in captivity and are very long-lived.


The base of the forest-clad Aberdare Mountains is a very peculiar

formation. Looking across the open country it looks for all the world

like rolling plains, practically treeless, but there are all sorts of unseen

wonders when you come to explore. The many streams which rise in

the Mountains flow through incredibly deep gorges, which are not visible

at a distance. They are not formed by the action of water, but by the

natural shrinkage of the earth’s crust. Being thickly forested they are

full of interest, and near the water in shady places there are beautiful

ferns of all descriptions. To descend from the plains into one of these

gorges is almost like going to another country as far as bird-life is

concerned. Instead of seeing Pipits, Larks, Whydahs, and other

plain-loving species, one comes across denizens of the jungle such as

Hartlaub’s Touracos ( Turacus hartlaubi), Narina Trogons (Apaloderma

narina), White-headed Wood-hoopoes (Phoeniculus bollei jacksoni),

White-starred Bush-robins (Pogonocichla stellata), and many Bulbuls,

Zosterops, and Flycatchers. Animals include the beautiful Colobus

monkeys and Bushbuck.


In the period corresponding with the English winter there are

a tremendous number of migrant Warblers from different parts of



