APES AND PARROTS. 57 catch. It appears that this ape is found much more frequently in the Monbuttu and Nyam-Nyam districts than here, probably because the thicker woods in those countries afford it greater safety. In 1877—78 four living specimens were sent from there to Khartum, where they died, and were not made use of in a scientific or any other way.

The distribution of the parrot (Psittacus erythacus) coincides with that of the anthropoid ape. ‘The bird is to be seen all over Unyoro flying about in twos and threes. It is a high, heavy flier, screams continuously during its flight, and is one of the earliest birds. Hven before sunrise it is heard screeching ; towards midday, however, it vanishes, in order to take its midday rest, and is seen again from four o’clock until -the evening. The numerous sycamores provide it with necessary food. Possibly, also, it feeds on bananas; at least some of the specimens I obtained ate this food readily, and preferred it to sugar-cane. The bird is very common in Uganda, and is sometimes kept in the huts, where, without any instruction, 1t soon learns to speak. In Usdéga, where the bird is exceedingly numerous, it is caught in small nets, and the red feathers from its tail are plucked out and used as ornaments. Care is, however, taken that the person performing this operation is unknown to the bird. ‘The feathers are reproduced very slowly. The northern boundary of the distribution of this bird, as well as that of the ape, appears to extend to the second degree of N. lat. Colobus Guereza, which is very common here, exists farther to the north, and I have obtained its skins from the district of Fatiko (3° 1’ N. lat.) ; in Luri, too, the ape is very common. Cercopithecus griseo-viridis and C. ruber, as also a third grey species, together with Paleornis cubicularis, are to be found everywhere, but they become scarcer as we approach the equator. Baboons of several species are common in the mountains. I have been told two or three times that black parrots are to be found; but as the existence here of the Pszttacus Timneh has not been proved, it is probably a dark specimen of P. erythacus that has been seen. Still, it is perfectly true that many new discoveries remain to be made here.

At midnight the horns were blown—the drum serves only as a war sional—to assemble the porters ; yet at six in the morning