E A N H S

BULLETI N

A publication of the East African Natural History Society, Box 44486, Nairobi, Kenya. Price 10 shillings.

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SANHS BULLETIN

NO^/ENBER/DECEMBER 1985

CONTENTS

Dry Seaon Wildlife Dispersal in Masai Mara National Reserve ------ 71

Song Mimicry, Duetting and Anti phonal Song in African Birds ------ 75

The Occurence of Two Species of Double-collared Sunbirds in Nairobi -- - 78

Tree Frogs so

Reviews - -- -- -- - - - 33

Tanzania Again ----------------------------

Ngorongoro Revisited

Notice - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -
Shikra Predation on Uganda Wall Geckos ---------------- 90

Peregrine Striking Dove at Ngulia ------------------- gg

Pied Kingfishers gj

Owls Feeding on Termites -----------------------

Falcons and Eagles in Tsavo West National Park ------------ gj

Brown House Snake - a Hearty Appetite ----------------- 92

Recent E.A.N.H.S. Camps ------------------------ 92

Birdwalk at xMuthaiga Golf Club, Nairobi. 8 August 1985 - -- -- -- - 93

New Members ------------------------------ 94

A Lament

94

DRY 3EAS0N WILDLIFE DISPERSAL RANGE IN MASAI MARA

NATIONAL RESERVE, KENYA: OBSERVATIONS

AND RESEARCH NEEDS

Before tha land uses at the peripheral habitats of the Masai Mara National
Reserve began to change, the Serengeti Migratory species entered Kenya both
from within the reserve through the i.nternationa.l boundary with Tanzania and
beyond to the Siana Plains in .the east. A>t the time of ray field observations,
most individuals entered through the Sand River and the Mara River routes.

Others entered from the strip between these two inuernal migration routes.

Their movements in the reserve appecired to follow a systematic pattern.

On entering the Mara Re^>erve from Tantaiiia, the migratory herds split.

From the Sand River m.igration route, the larger groups usually go through
Keekorok Lodge and Posee .Plaiixs to the Talek River. On crossing the river they
move on to the Governor's camp area in the north which they occupy for most of
their stay in the reserve. Small splinter groups, rather than travelling
straight on to the Governor's camp area, move eastwards to Olairautia, traversing
the Olemelepo gate area, Talek and Posee Plains to the Governor's camp locality.
From the Mara River route, movements are made straight on through the Meta
Plains across the Talek River towards Governor's camp. Minor splinter groups
traverse other areas before converging on the ncrthor.Iy Governor ' s camp area.

When forage becomes depleted in the Governor’s camp area, the built-up
migratory populations move on to the \/est through the Kichv/a Tembo grasslands and
woodlands , across the upper reaches of the Mara River (v^ithin the reserve) , to
the Serena Lodge area. They graze on while movements continue to the Oloololo
gate in the northwest, back through the same Mara Triangle to the lower reaches
of the Mara Rivez' in Kenya. The migrants cross tne Mara River at the Kenya-
Tanzania border to Serengeti National Park. Their return journey to the
Serengeti is largely through the Mara River route. ^''Tiiile occupying the reserve,
Wildebeeste Connvchaetes taiirinus and Thomson's Gazelle Gazella thomsonii are
observed to return to grazed areas where or a mii’xg stimulated grass regrowth was
available. The Loita Plains wildebeeste mi-jratory group v/hich returned to the
Governor's Ccimp area at the time of Lhe Serengeti migrants peak occupancy, remain
after their return to the Serengeti National Park .

EFFECTS OP MIGRANT OCCUPAI^GY ON TEE RESIDENT HE-IBIVORES WII’H SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO THE BUFFAiO HERDS

Many distinct br.ffaio herds, some of over 2C0 iiidi^mduals , utilized the high-
lands, plains, woodlands ar.d slopes in the reserve. The buffalo herds were seen
in areas ranging from the Mara'Ttr'r.pie in the west through Posee Plains, Talek
Olemelepo, Keekorok to Olaimuti.a sectio.ns of the reser^/c.

I monitored the foraging activities of one herd (hereafter referred to as the
Ngama buffalo herd) observed to maintain a grazing circuit between the Ng.ama
Hills, the slopes and lowland r3,r-ge sites before the Serengeti migrants entered
the reserve about 10 July, 1082. Aparc from tours undertaken between 1980 and
December 1981 from Nairobi, the autho.r spent the period from December 1981 to
November 1982 in the Masai Mara Wildlife Research Station, near the Olemelepo
Gate. In the day time, the Ngama buf.fe;los grazed the slopes and the highland
woodland thickets. A.t sunset, they descended, from the highlands to the lowland
areas where they used both tha water and grazing resources including the lawns of
the premises of the Wildlife Research Scation. Tlxis circuit cf grazing move-
ments from lowland range sites (evenings and na ghr. time) to slopes and high-
land woodland thickets during the dr.'^g became a routine for the Ngama buffalo
herd before the arrival of the Serenget.i. migrants.

Beginning in , when the migrants occupied the reserve, the Ngama buffalo

herd no longer used their total v/et seaoca range. They apparently depended
more on the higblo.:.:! thickets and slope ranges for their food. The decrease in

71

iCiQORiEN

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X - study sites

72

the foraging circuit used hy the buffalo herd was probably related to the
presence of large r.uiaberc of vrildebees te , which I suspect constituted potential
competition for the buffaloes. Sinclaijr (1974) observed an overlap in the grass
species and preferred x-a-ts of grasses eaten by >7ildebeoste and buffalo. He has
further suggested a food resource limitation for the Serengeti migratory herbi-
vores. Stelfox et al . (1980) ho.ve estimated buffalo population in the Mara

region as 25 000 while Sinclair (1974) j>ut the mean crude density of buffaloes
in the Masai Mara National Reserve at 9.0 individuals per km^ . Onyeanusi (1983)
observed that both the migratory Idebaeste and the resident large herbivores
dispersed to the lives tocl: gracing areas outside rhe reserve boundaries at the
peak of the Serengeti migrants occ'.’puncy of the Mara Reserve. Localised food
resource shortage was reported, and it would seem that the movements of large
herbivores beyond the Mara Rese:' ve boundaries mighc be stimulated by the added
competitive effects of the migrants, part;^cularly the wildebeeste (Table 1).

On the other hand, both the Serengeti migi ant wildlife species and the resident
wildlife competed with the domestic livas'cock at the peripheral ranches.

RESEARCT NEEDS hND SUGGESTIONS

Large herbivore carrying capacity in Ihe Masai Mara National Reserve requires
a long-term multi-discrplina.:<'Rr research programme. On a large scale, the Kenya
Rangeland Ecological Mcnitcring Unit is doing a lot to monitor the animal
population dynamics range condition and treads etc. On a small scale, a lot
still remains to be done in the Mara Ressrva particularly in the areas of the
migrant population dynamics, herbaceous and woody plant productivity in the dry
season in order to gain knov7 ledge of the dry season large herbivore carrying
capacity. ilncther area that equally requires urgent research is the effects of
migrant occuparxcy on the resident v'ildlife and livestock species populations.

A modest beginning could h'e made v;ith rhe buffalo populations. A.R.E. Sinclair
was extending his research on popjulat.Lon dynai..lcs, including buffalo, to the Mara
Reserve in 1981 and 'Rrh; g-’DubJ.rn la Ph.D. scudent) started her investigations
involving woodland dvnsmics in fne sane vcar. My short term studies on the Mara
grassl.and productivicy and utilization (approx. oiiC year) still requires further
investigation, t'ildlifa msn ngemicn f , per se, be.i n.j essentially a management of
habitat/range suggest.^ that 3 arm: i:mall--scale herbivore carrying capacity

investigation is critical in che 'Laru Reserve, uonsidsrinq the increasing migrant
populations, iiicreasing T:erl_rher'i I lar,c.--'ase and ever chenging seasonality of the
Mara region.

REFERENCES

McNaughton, S.O". (1975) oursnaoti migratory viidefceeste: facilitation of

energy flow by grazing. S'-cieure J91; 92-94.

Onyeanusi, A.E. (19C3) The prcdi.cmion and fate of grasslands in Masai Mara
National Reserve, Kenya, Uxu'ublished M.Gc, Theses, University of Nairobi,

Sinclair, h.E.E. (197^^) The natural rt c;ulatio’'s of buffalo population in East
Africa: .IV , The food s'pply as a requlatJ.ng factor, and competition.

East Africcia Wildlife Jc arnal 12: 291-311.

Stelfox, J.G., Peden, D.G.. Mbuguc., S.^h, Amuyunsu, C.L. and Hudson R.J. '(1980)
Population, stoc];.ing rates and distributions of wildlife and livestock on
Mara and Loita Plai.ns ■: Decenhar 1978 - November 1979. KREMU Technical

Report Series No, l9.

Zrugustine Egwu Onyeanusi*- • f ' ...Irar.-dtq' ct f'rirbbi, Kenya.

*Present Address; Forestry search Iiistitute of N'geria, Federal School of

i';il-dlifo 24ana semen t, Irivate Mail Bag 268, New Bussa,

KVai-"c. Rts.ta , i.'-!i.geri a.

73

Average Wildlife Occupancy (No./km^) from eight study sites within the reserve, and
livestock occupancy at the peripheral Talek area during the dry season (July - October) .

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74

TABLE

SONG MIMICRY, DUETTING AND ANTIPHONAL SONG IN AFRICAN BIRDS

One of the special delights of living in distant places is learning entirely new
plants and animals, particularly new birds and their songs. This is a challenge
because many look and sound confusingly alike, at least at first. Sometimes this
is because we are not yet familiar with the new songs we hear, but it is also that
world-wide birds in similar habitats have evolved similar songs. Some of this
may be accounted for by the fact that all songbirds are capable to some extent of
mimicry including mimicking other birds and some bird families have developed
this to a high degree, such as the New World family Mimidae, which includes cat-
birds , thrashers and mocking-birds .

Birds from different families and orders that have existed sympatrically over
long periods of time have evolved certain song patterns that are quite .similar .

For instance, there are singing styles that characterize the songs of birds of
open grasslands. Many have fricative buzzy sounds suggesting those of insects,
while others have been described as having tinJcling sounds and squeaking songs,
and still others have loud and clear whistles. Contrasted to this, the songs of
many woodlajjd jbiirds including tropical species are often rich and melodic, being
described as flute-like and bell-like and even organ-like. Dr Charles Hartshorne,
the University of Texas octogenarian professor of philosophy and ornithologist,
has much to say on this subject in his book Born to Sing. This difference (to
our ears anyway) of song quality may be partly explained by the fact that grass-
land species belong largely to faniilies not famous as singers - fringillids,
emberiziids, ploceids, larks and. pipits (though among these- are some outstanding
exceptions) . Woodland birds include more families with exceptional singers -
thrushes, chats, solitaires, bulbuls, mimids , bush shrikes, etc. It is note-
worthy that while tropical shrikes, starlings and even some kingfishers such as
the Woodland Kingfisher have developed remcirkable songs, outside the tropics
these birds are not known for their singing abilities.

What is mimicry in birds? A precise determination of what is and what is not
mimicry is very difficult. Closely related birds (e.g. American House Finches,
Purple Finches and Cassin's Finches) may sing very much alike, but this is not
considered to be mimicry (or is it?) . Sometimes two unrelated species of birds
sound very much alike to us. Is bird A mimicking bird B or the other way around,
or perhaps it is only our interpretation of a similarity of the songs that leads
us to believe that mimicry exists. For example, to our ears a noisy flock of
Ruppell's Long-tailed Glossy Starlings flying overhead sounds much like a flock
of squeaky parrots at times and has fooled us more than once. The Northern
Olive Thrush Turdus abyssinicus occurs in East Africa, It looks and sounds very
much like an American thrush the American Robin T, migrator ius. Both are thrushes
in the same genus , so even though widely separated they might be expected to have
similar songs. In Uganda, a more common thrush is the African Thrush T. pelios
a paler edition of both the Olive Thrush and the American Robin. t^That is most
interesting is that it has an entirely different song. The Olive Thrush has a
chirrupy song much like the American Robin, whereas the African Thrush has a
loud song consisting of short phrases repeated three or four times, then changes
to another phrase, again repeated, continuing this way for many minutes. These
sustained outbursts of song remind an American listener of a Mockingbird, so much
so that it would be easy to believe they were somehow related, or at least had at
some time in the remote past been associated with one another. Recently, we got
a letter from a couple who had not been in East Africa a month. They wrote that
"one of our pleasures is hearing the mockingbird, just like back home" - obviously
they were hearing the African Thrush. The Mockingbird belongs to a purely New
World family, Mimidae, which includes catbirds and thrashers, also famous mimics.

What seems to be true mimicry is widespread among African birds. Williams
(1980) lists the following outstanding examples - Anteator Chat, Morning Thrush,
Robin Chat, Red-capped Robin Chat, Snowy-headed Robin Chat, White-browed Robin

75

list

Chat, R;;;!.'"':" Ch'Rtorer, ;;r:po.l ■;C^;'hlar and Gtarlir'a. 71 ',t brl-.d

can be greatly expanded. Several species of starlings are laxmics^ (as is the
introduced Corrmon Starling in Inerica). Williams mentions additional mimics that
are not listed here.

Outside the tropics it i.s usually only the males that sing loudly sustained
songs, pres urn cibly to attract females and estalDlish territories. There are rare
exceptions. In Southern California we have heard female Black-'headed Grosbeaks
Pheuticus malahocephalus sing beautifully, both on and off tna nest. Warbling
Vireos sing, from, the nest occaslonaJ ly , but these m.ay be males as it is difficult
to distinguish sex in vireos .

In the tropics borh male and female birds sing equally wgjI, especially in
East Africa. They may 3i,ng separ<?tely or antiphorially , one bird resTJonding to
the song C'f the other bird, usually its mate, or may sing in duets, trios or even
choruses . This occurrence among many trc'pical birds and its virtual non-existence
outside the tropics has not been adequately Gxpiair..ed.. One suggestion Is that
tropical birds often maintain permanent 'cerritories and more permanent mates and
both sexes engage in tsr.ritoriai behaviour, including singing. Another idea is
that tropical species use this method cf calling and responding while foraging
in dense vegetation as a wu'.y of keeping track of each other. Whatever the
reason, these vocal displays of rna.ny tropical birds are one of the treats for
those of us who, .enjoy listening to the sorgs of birds.

A remarkable East African cuckoo- the White-bro>7cd Coucal CentropuB supercil-
locus has a song or call (the distinction aa tween a song and a call is ^ague;
technically the order Cuculifcriues aren't classified as songbirds) that resembles
the sound made by water bubbling out of a large bottle as it is poured onto the
ground. The vernacular name cf this bird is "Water -bottle Ej.rd'- . In early morn-
ing before daybreak this bird renders an eerie but lovely song-call in response
to other caucals calling in the. distance as \:'ell as to respond to the call of
its mate, fc:mriing antipdionul duets, trios and even choruses as one bird after
another ans.wers the calls of the preceding bi'*d. They begin quietly, dipping
slightly in pitch, then ,rising joack to ‘“he original pitch and tippii,!g over at the
end, producing a sound scicewhat .tike '’bioo“>-looo-lcoo-looo-looo-looo-looo"

that is carried on by a secerd bi.rd a.nd uhen ptssed on tc still another bird and
another .

The Aif rican Bush Shrikes , family .Malaco'notidaa , are famous for their souvgs
sung autiphonally and as duets. One is the Trepneal Bcafsou Lacicrius ferruglneus ,
jet-black above with a soft pearly'-pi.nk underside. ,A bird utters three or four
lovely beJ.l-likc notes in rcoid succession followed. j.nmediate.ly by an answering
loud "cc,:.A'ee'' f,rcm the mate, the o-ntirc song ceem.i.ng tr> be from a single bird
unless the diffc.rent positions rare ncti.csd. The 'lose.‘ly related Elack-headed
Gonolek L. barba?sus erythrepastez is c'.o‘. of che most attractive birds in Africa,
jet-black above and bright blood- red. below. :^itez being utterly/ silent for many
minutes it will suddenly make a Icud two note "KWEEOO'p- ’vvliicli is follov/ed instant-
ly by the mate's ansv’ering ‘’CHUKRR'u The most rema.'-kable thing about these
performances of bo+'h species is the uhiliu/ of. the second bJ.rd, to respond so
in3tanta.neous].y to the call, of th.e first bird, Gevu.ral other kinds of bush
shrikes also p.roduce uhcce nxitiphcnal explosions.

Unquestionably the most beautiful and acco;;iplished African songbirds are the
many species c ' th.niGhes k.nown as robin chats . The most coinon one in many
Uganda gurdexio is the Wlii re -b.r cured Robin Chat Coesypha heugl..ni. Another superb
singer is the Sxxovxy-headed Robin Chat C. rJ.velcapilla . These birds are exception-
ally skillful m.lnics but they also sinq super.bj.^’- alone as V7ell as in breath-taking
duets, filling the .m.r au dawn on’ duck with their farobJ >ir.q outbursts of

tumultous song. TV'o White-browed Robin Chats will sit
will begin with, a v/hisper-quiot ., "weeor- w'eeer, xiceerr"

facir-.g each other and one
gradually inorea.^ing in

vol-ome to an ear -splitting ’hvH'
sam.vO time the other bi.rd sings
for awhile and this ma“/ chengo

EEERR .. TvHEIbtERR , i’FBI'lEERR ,
loudly "DFAR DCRCTUy, DE/xR
CO a.notho.i; thsmo, perhaps

WIJEEEERR" v/hile at the
DCROTHY, DEIk DOROTHY"
tc •'DCCKALEESE, DOCkALEEE ,

76

DOCI<CALEE" or to "KOOOKALET, KOOOKALET, KOOOKALET" and they continue this way for
many minutes in em ecstatic outpouring of melody, each bird seemingly trying to
out-sing the other one,,

A common garden bird in East Africa is the Grey-capped Warbler Eminia lepida,
family Sylviidae. It has a wide song repertory of loud whistles, trills and
various squeaks. It is an accomplished mimic, borrowing songs of other birds
including orioles , bulbuls and robin chats . It also sings regularly in duets and
antiphonal.ly . V7e recorded one in our garden singing "cweeooo, coowee, coowee ,
Q\^EEEEEEEEEE" and another time as "purrr, purrr, purrr, PREEESEEEEEEE" (Normally
four notes, the last a trill.) and this was followed by an answering burst of
short song by the mate, "cooo-cooo-wheeet” or simply by "wheoet" that might go
unnoticed if it did not always occur immediately following the other song.

The most difficult birds in East Africa to identify in the field are the
warblers (family Sylviidae) and in particular most of the Cisticola warblers -
They are generally grassland and swamp inhabitants, hiding in rank grass and
hardly coming out long enough to be identified at first, and often flying far
away when they feel they are being observed. Many look like thin-billed sparrows,
with streaked brown backs and pale abdomens. Fortunately, they all have distinct-
ive songs, once learned, but most of their songs consist of whistles, squeaks and
trills as the following list of some of their names will indicate; Croaking
Cisticola, Rattling, Singing, Tinkling, Trilling, Wailing, Whistling, Winding and
Zitting Cistocala. About 18 more species have somewhat less descriptive names.
Some cistocals regularly sing duets or even in trios. One is Hunter's Cisticola
Cisticola hunteri. This bird is abundant on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater in
Tanzania and is easily observed near the main park lodges. We recorded the songs
of this .species there on our Uher tape recorder and wrote down the following field
notes. "KTiile one bird sings a rollicking song that sounds like 'turreeeer, turr-
eeeer, turreeeer' the second one sitting beside it on a bush top sings, 'tooweet,
too-weet, too- tweet ... tooweet too- tweet ' the two songs blending perfectly to
give the impression of a single singing bird. A third bird in a nearby bush sings
a more subdued 'tweet ... tweet ... tweet' to complete the trio. These birds will
sing repeatedly from one bush for several minutes and then suddenly fly to
another bush to repeat the process, ail day long."

The distinctive call of the Red-chested Cuckoo of Africa Cuculus solitarius is
one of the most characteristic and common bird sounds of East Africa. It calls,
"wip,wip, wee-oo ... wip, wip, wee~oo" constantly for hours. Some say it is
saying "it will rain, it will rain" and call it the Rainbird. Its call greatly
resembles that of an American caprimulgid, the Whip-poor-will and suggests that
the call of the Red-chested Cuckoo may be borrowed .from one of the African Night-
jars. However, it can. be argued that this is not likely as many cuckoos have
rhythmically repetitive calls, VJhat it does point up is that birds may possess
similcu: calls and songs that suggest mimicry v/hen this is .impossible, especially
when they occur on widely separated continents.

REFERENCES :

Hartshorne , Charles 1973. Born to sing: an interpretation and world survey of

bird song. Indiana University Press: Bloomington.

Williams, John G. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa.

Collins: London.

John D. Goodman and Jeanne Goodman, Department of Zoology, Mcikarere
University, Box 7062, KampaJ.a , Uganda.

77

THE OCCURENCE OF TWO SPECIES OF DOUBLE-COLLARED SUNBIRDS

IN THE NAIROBI AREA

Even some very able observers have expressed uncertainty regarding the
occurence of both the Eastern Double ~ collared Sunbird Nectarinia mediocris
and the Northern Double-collared Sunbird N. preussi in Nairobi. Four factors
have possible contributed to this confusion.

Firstly, the two may be seen together only infrequently, or in restricted
areas. Secondly, many observers appear to have presumed that the Eastern is
the one commonly seen and that the Northern, as its name seems to imply, occurs
further north in the highlands e.g. in the Nanyulci/Mt . Kenya area. But Britton
(1930) mentions the Northern south to Ngong, just outside Nairobi, so this
presumption is quite wrong - and a good example of the way in v;hich English
bird names are often misleading: cf. the former v/hite-breasted Tit, and the

present Rufous-naped Lark.

Thirdly , there seems to have been the feeling that tv/o such similar birds
cannot co-exist, i.e. that they must compete for food, or interfere with each
others breeding cycles by attempting to interbreed. But both Hall & Moreau
(1970) and Britton (1980) note that they can be sympatric (i.e. able to occur
and breed in close proximity, and this coexistence seems to be facilitated by
two factors. Differing songs and plumages (see below) prevent interspecific
courtship and mating. Distinctly differing bills (see belov?) mean that each
species takes distinctly differing food items, so that they do not compete
significantly for available food resources. The longer and more decurved bill
of the Eastern may, for example, enable it to probe more deeply into flov;ers
in searching for food.

Lastly and reiterating an old moan, the distinction between the tvro birds
given by Williams & Arlott (1980) , our most up to date identification text,
are, in my admittedly limited experience, far short of adequate.

So, the situation seemed to be that most people thought the birds in Nairobi
to be Eastern. Then a few doubted this and one or tv;o thought Northern definit-
ely occured, and so to uncertainty.

We grew passion fruit around the back patio of my former house in Spring
Valley, Nairobi, and the superb passion flowers attracted a pair of double-
collared sunbirds . These tiny and exquisite individuals took up residence in
our small back garden and could bo seen outside our windows, at a couple of
metres ' range , throughout the day .

I assumed them to be Eastern and never really gave their identification a
thought until going for a walk along the top of the Ngong Hills recently.

We were just returning to the cars v/hen a loud and lispy song erupted from the
bushes nearby- After a lot of searching, this noise was traced to a small - ■
si-inbird that darted elusively around the bush tops.

Finally I got the binoculars on it, and was greatly startled - here was a
male double-collared sunbird that looked nothing like the one known so well
from our garden I So, into the notebook v/ent the startlingly different details
and later, under the usual mountain of bird atlas work, absolutely nothing
further was done about it.

However, with a v/ife nav/ly interested in birds and raring for new species,

I was threatened v;ith sanctions that included loss of eating rights, and so
I made a supreme effort and looked at the skins of the tv.^o birds in the
collection of the National Museum, Nairobi.

Again, the same shock - these two sunbirds really are different - just go
and see the rows of skins lying in that collection and the differences are
obvious. And my familiar 'Eastern' at Spring Valley is certainly Northern,
while the Ngong bird is certainly Eastern.

From my recent experience of the two birds at Ngong and Spring Valley, and

78

in the museum's collection,, the differences are;

1) the songs differ, though I forget how: one is perhaps faster and more

forceful.

2) the bills are very different. The Morthern's is shorter than that of a
Variable Sunbird Nectarinia venusta and is really only curved near the tip.
The Eastern's is rouch longer., as long as the Variable's, and curved through-
out its length.

3) the Eastern's breast bard is more fiejo/, oranae-red than the Northern's,

4) the Eastern's breast band is narrov.^er than the Northern's, but this may not
be immediately striking as a field mark: colour difference (3) is better.

5) the Northern's belly is a dull, palish brown, whereas the Eastern's is
definitely paler and more yellowish.

6) the Ngong indi vidua], showed prominent bi'ight yellow pectoral tufts not
seen on the Spring Valley birds The rnuseun: specimens of the Eastern also
have these tufts, v/hile some of the Nortnern’s have rather less prominent
ones .

7) in the field and in the museum, the Eastern is brighter and yellov:er or more
golden green on the head and mantle.

B) the upper tail coverts of the specimens were deep violet- purple in the
Northern and deep blaish in the Eastern, but this is of little use as a
field character.

To summarise-, and as seen on the Ngong Kills, the Eastern is a totally brighter
bird, more golden green above, yellower on the belly, and with a narrower,
more fiery orange breast band.

Tlie distinctions betv^een these two species should be especially obvious if
they are seeii alongside each other. Records of the two together, particularly
if they are nestijig in close proximity, vjould be of interest.

I am very grateful to Mrs Cecilia Gichuki for access to the collection of
skins at the National Muse’JD.i, Nairobi.

REFERENCES

Britton, P.L. (ed.) 1900. Birds of Fast Africa their habitat^ status and
distribution. Nairobi; ETsNHS .

Hall, E.P. & Moreau, R.E. 1970. An atlas of speciation in African passerine
birds. London: British Museum (Natural History,

Williams, J.G. & Arlott, N. 1930, A field guide to the birds of East Africa.
London : Collins .

Adrian D. Levels, African Eirding Ltd., Box^ 2529G, Nairobi.

79

TREE

FROGS

Ecological convergence in the Old World and New World tree frogs is one of the
more convincing demonstrations of the role of the enviroiiraent in producing in
widely separated regions almost identical animals » The New World tree frogs
are almost certainly derived from toad-like ancestors cis is evidenced by their
possession of toad- like vertebrae,- glandular skin secrorions (in some mildly
irritating to very toxic) and by the trj.lling calls many of them produce. Old
World tree frogs have a very different ancestr^g, more closely related to true
frogs (Ranidae) but usually are placed in a separate family ^ Hyperoliidae
(= Rhacophoridae) . . The New World tree frogs (Kylidae) more accurately should
be called tree toads and in recent years this has become the common way of
referring to them. However wide or narrow is the taxonomic gap between the
two families, the fact remains that they are ecologically equivalent with
many morphological, physiological and behavioural similarities and traits.

Actually, the terras Old World and Nev/ World do not accurately describe the
geographical distribution of the t?:eG f regs , Hyperoliidae and Hylidae.

The Hyperoliids do not occur in the New World but Hylids occur in Europe and
Asia and if memory serves me there are also seme in Australia. A better terra
might be boreal tree frogs and t.ropical tree frogs, but again that falls down
because in addition to boreal species many Hylids occur in the New World
tropics.- So, it is more useful here to spealc of American tree frogs (knowing
they occur elsewhere) and African tree frogs, because that is actually what is
being compared .

After a long experience; vrith Ajncrican tree frogs and somewhat less but
still, more than 25 years with African tree frogs, it is possible and of inter-
est to compare them in certa.in ways. How are they similar and how do they
differ? For instance, most American tree frogs are rather easy to identify,
both by their songs and oy the use of field guides and keys to their indentify-
ing characteristics. In contrast, Aifrican tree frogs ~ and African frogs and
toads generally - are ranch more aifficult to identify with certainity.

Possibly this is directly due to the fact that to date no reliable field
characters apart from technical ones have been used to identify them. At some
future date good field guides, such as are available for birds and mammals,
may become availalsle for African frogs and toads etc., but at the present time
even the experts in this subject say that it is ”a mess". In the genus
Hyperolius , Sedge Frogs (the main group of tree frogs in the family Hyperol-
iidae) there may be over 100 species, or maybe less than ten; The early
workers (Ahi, etc.) were "splitters’" , so now it is up to the more modern
experts, the "lumpers”, to find by sophisticated means how many species there
really are. I suspect uhat at che most, there are no more than a dozen ''good*'
species in the whole of Jifrlca.

The songs of American frogs and toads, including tree frogs, have been so
long and carefuJ.l^; studied and desori.bed that it is relatively easy to identify
virtually al.1 of them by song alone , and sometimes even down to subspecies or
geographical races, such as in t.ho .Ryii-.i genus Pseudacris , the Swamp Cricket
Frogs of Araen.ca. Even in recent year.s a few' iJylid frogs have been finally
separated, though almost identical, on their song differences, such as Hyla
arenicolor 3:adU , ca.da.vor.inar in Arizona-Californias both for years called
H .' .irenicolc'.r . despite gui'ue different calls and a disjunct distribution,
sepa.rated by tine Colorado River that runs between Arizona and California.
T’nrough the use of sonograrris of tl-)e songs and otner modern techniques such as
serology, the common r astern Gi -^y Tree Frog ,7. versicolor has also been shown
to be not cne but several (st loas'l tovo) ''good" species. Hany of us during
the late thirties and ea.rly forties learned the American frogs and toads by
song from the excel.lent reco.rdi,nc;s made by Corne.ll University’s Dr A. A. Allen
and Paul Kellog, pioneers rn vjiidl.ife sound reco.rdings, who also produced the

30

first good bird recordings, lijcse wore first reproduced on regular 78 rpm.
bakelite discs? then after 'for .Id War TtAro long-playing discs became available
and tliey were then procuraljle on one or two long-plciying discs. Their title
remained the same, “Voices in the Night - the sounds of North ?\merican Frogs
and Toads". With them one became, if one '■'ished, as familiar with every North
American frog and toad as many of us became fam.iliar by the sam.e m.ethod with
North imierican bird songs .

The situation in .Africa is very di.fferent. The Sedge Frogs Ilvperolius ,
ccxao in dozens of colours and sha.peG (minor va?:ia.tion.s in head shape, etc.)
but all seem to have a rather singula:.; song, easily .identifiable as Hyperolius
and well knovm to everyone in Aifrica. at all interested in sounds. Its song is
a monotonous sharp ■■plinh - - - plinh. - - - plini?/' like tiny hammers beating
on glass, as someone leas said. Even the re.Lated genus, Afrlxalus , the Banana
Frog, has a similar so::g,. identifi-abie only by habitat (bananas) and possessing
a vertical instead cf a horizontal pupil {there a..re also a few other technical
differences’) . And it is also true that oven a soiind like "plink" can be
tremendously modified, perhaps to ''’peecer'k" , or the cadence stepped up or
slowed down, ident:i fying certain speci.es. AfTican Hyperolius has a song that
greatly resGmi:)los tv'o Eylids .frern Araerica. They are - Hijla andersonii,
Anderson's Hyla or she Pine Eorrens Tree Frog, -and Fseudacris ornata , the
Ornate Tree Frog. The Bird-vciced Hyla,, Hpla avivoca , of the Mississippi
River bottoms, also has a plink.ing note that gre=\tly resembles that of Hyper-^
olius .

Another ext.remely common East Af.oican soand in the evening o.r the night is
that cf the tree frog Kassina C3i:agalenais . At least in Uganda it is difficult
to get av/ay from its sound, yot it is one of the most difficult of all frogs
to actually locate. Its call is a loud "Quoit - - - Ouoit - - - Quoit - ~ -
Quoit" with .about 30 second xntorvals between calls. One can follow such a
sound until within feet or perhaps incites (or should we be scientific and say
metres and centimetres?) and yet not bo a.ble to locate it. It calls from
deep in a bush or in a h.ole (althoug.h they they ar.e not actually fossorial
frogs) and the call is ventriioguia.l so that the p.rec.i.se spot is alm.ost
impossible, to locate. I was on'.e ..o.oso that X could lie down and make a

call that was identical to .if. (by sayi. ng "cruoit'' v;ith my breath withdrawn as
I said it) and even before I got the “gu" out ch.-^.s f.rog v;ould respond. I then
literally v;hispered the sovmid. as c. sort cf "cu" in. my th.roat and it would
instantly respond to th.at scund coo.. i knew I v/as close, so I searched within
a foot all around ne and never .found its hiding place.. Kassina tends mostly
to call when other frogs are silent, which ma.kes its call so evident.

Hyperolius hov/evai , siagrs in jrear. cb';j.ru;:es and single calls are not common..
Yet, they are very easy to .locate as theo’- sing from a t.all grass stem or reed
stalk and keep up a co.n'cinuous ca.ll even xdien the hand is within an inch or so
of them. Though a bit 'enc-rilocui.al (one alv.^aye looks for chom just a bit
further away than they seem to be) they are not at all difficult to capture at
at night wifh a torch. Tn.o only problem is tlie threat o;.: becoming totally
deafened, by them. They apparently :ceiy on large choruses sixiging simultan-
eously so that one’s ears are ringing from a hundred .loud '-plinks" all at once
and coming from all di.rectic'ins ■'ohen one h.ar: waded into a colony of them.

This is o.bvously a way of minimi .zing predation on siriglo individuals. Most
American Hylids are much more difficult bo locate v/hen calling. Tb.Gy are far
more wary and usually wil.l totally stop singing once they detect the presence
of anyone at hand. Thi.c is perhaps because mciny of them sing from the surface
of w^ter, partly hidden among nlant.,« , so then/ datcjcb the movement of the water.
One can wade among a singing chorus of HuvczgHus for hours until c-very single
one is captured, if de.sired, with no cessation of .singing whereas a Hylid
chorus stops totally for as muc,h at ten m.i.nutef; when app.roached. Then one or
two brave ones stcirt and coon tlia eni;i.’re colony .us in full song again; by this
time they are usually lass. wa...y and it becomes eaf>ier to find singing individ-

uals. A full chorus of singing Hylids is fully as ear-splitting as a chorus
of Hypex'oliids . It is one of the experiences every naturalist should at some
time take advantage of, if he or she has never heard it.

Without any doubt the Pacific Tree Frog of America, Hyla regilla, is the
most widely known tree frog in the world. Not by sight, but by its song.

Cinema goers world-wide are familiar with its steady calls, "CRIK-crek ~ -

CRIK-crek" and so on, in hundreds of Hollywood epics. It is in the back-
ground when the bridge on the River Kwai is about to be blown up .... and you
hear its familiar '*CRIK-crek *' as a small British patrol is silently lying
close to Rommel's 15th Panzer Division in the sands of Tunisia, again you hear
it in Hawaii, in Canada and you even hear it calling in Robin Hood and other
films set in Merrie Olde England. It even occurs in Hollywood "Westerns",
where it belongs’. But then, knov/ledgeable naturalists are constantly being
insulted by Hollyvraod sound and camera men in many ways. Marlon Brando of the
Afrika Korps is looking through his dienstglass at an approaching column of
Montgomery's 8th Army, but I cant help noticing that he is under neatii the shade
of a very familiar shrub, not found in Africa, the Creosote Bush Larrea divar-
.icata of the American Southwest, in full hlooml The total illusion is suddenly
gone for Marlon is obviously somewhere outside of Palm Springs in the Colorado
Desert, the locale of "desert movies" ever since "The Sheik" with Rudolph
Valentino. Robin Hood's "Sherwood Forest" is easy to locate - it is Sherman
Oaks, California and the trees are California Live Oaks Quercus agrifolia and
the trees the Knights of the Round Table joust beneath are alive with the songs
of California House Finches Carpodacus mexicanus . After their space ship
crashes in "The Planet of the Apes" Charleton Heston and his crew are trudging
wearily across a moonscape planet v?ondering if life exists on it, ivhen suddenly
right in front of them is a single yellow- flov/ered plant, which they pick up
and admire. It is none other than '‘Jack-ass C.lover" a common member of the
family Capparidaceae in the genus Wislizenia f found in Southern and Baja
California. But this time Hollywood got the last laugh on the cynical natural-
ists in the audience. We learn only in the final seconds of the film that "The
Planet of the Apes" is - you know v/hat, complete ^^?ith th,e Statue of Liberty
sticking out of the sand. So, maybe by that time Jack-ass Clover grew on
Manhattan Island.

John D. Goodman, Dept, of Zoology, Makerere University, Box 7062, Kampala.

TREE FROGS Hyperolius ssp.

82

REVIEWS

THE JAPANESE IVORY INDUSTRY. By Esmond Bradley Martin, 1985. Japan: World

Wildlife Fund. pp. 52 illustrated with black and vrhite photographs and
drawings .

In this well-produced World Wildlife Fund publication, Dr Esmond Martin, who
has studied the ivory trade for the past fifteen years, makes availcible the
results of his investigation into the ivory industry of Japan ' the greatest
ivory consumer in the world' . Concentrating on this one country, he makes
telling recommendations, backing them up with convincing facts. The book is
of value both to laymen and experts, being a fascinating, yet detached,
account of Japan's role in the ivory trade.

There are fears that the supply of ivory will drop as elephants decline
drastically in numbers, due to illegal killing and diminishing habitat.

This is not Dr Martin's theme: he discusses instead the possible effects of

the resulting shortage of ivory in one key country.

In Japan, a seal is used in place of a signature. Every adult and every
business firm requires at least one for signing cheques and in financial
transactions. Fifty five per cent of imported raw ivory is used for these
seals. The rest mainly goes to the making of chopsticks, jewellery, piano
keys and other musical instruments, in accessories and sculptures. It has
been suggested that the vogue for ivory jewellery is due to the increased
spending power of yoiang women nov; in employment. Skilled carvings and
netsukes consume only 5% of Japan's ivory imports, however, so the 300 odd*^
master craftsm.en would be unlikely to be affected by an ivory shortage.
Nevertheless, the livelihoods of many thousands of people in Japan depend
on the ivory industiy, with annual earnings by carvers, manufacturers, whole-
salers and retailers exceeding $40 million.

A characteristic of Japanese life is the protection and promotion of
trades and professions by their ov/n associations and two chapters of the
book describe the ivory dealers and their associations in Tokyo and Osaka.

The dealers themselves take great pride in the workmanship of their
craftsmen and keep elegant shops . They produce many publications with photo-
graphs of sculptxires, increasing positive publicity. Or Martin stresses
that as dealers work closely together they should collaborate even more
closely for their common long term, interests , thc.reby avoiding panic buying
and greater exploitation of the already endangered elephant. Dr Martin found
the t.raders he interviewed anxious to maintain stability in the elephant
populations and hence their industry, by taking only a sustainable yield of
ivory. Conservationists must try to inform the traders what the sustainable
yield is, despite the difficulties of judging the number of elephants in
various populations .

In order to get adequate data on the nurrbers and distribution of elephants
in Africa Dr Marin recommends that the information from a study of the status
of the African elephant be made available to the Japanese and other major
traders, to encourage them to help regulate the international trade rather
than wipe it out. Dr Martin suggests that as the trade was willing to give
information for the making of his report, they should be asked to help'
monitor ivory exports out of Africa. This would reveal which countries act
as illegal entrepots, and which, over-exploit their elephant populations.

The Japanese ivory industry also, could invest in research into the fast
dwindling elephant populations, and to find alternative material (in the same
way as other industries have had to do, such as the cosm.etic industry over
whaling) .

Written with clarity and style, this publication also presents figures,
clear graphs and tcibles. There is a Japanese language edition (also published
in 1935) and I hope it will give wide currency to Dr Martin's well-argued

83

recommendations. Those concerned for the welfare of elephants should develop
an understanding of the -Japanese ivory industry. The dealers themselves, need
to learn how to allay the fears of conservationists, so that both can work
towards maintaining a stable elephant population in Africa.

Lucy Vigne,

POISONOUS SNAKES OF EASTERN AFRICA AND THE TREATMENT OF THEIR BITES .

By A. a J. MacKay, 1985. Nairobi; A. & J. MacKay. Price to Members of the
EAmiS Sh.35/-.

This catefully produced little book, v/hich will fit neatly into a backpack
or suitcase, contains a wealth of information on a fascinating topic: poisonous

snakes. Tlie core of the book is an identification guide to 32 species of snakes
from eastern ?d:rica which could inflict a venomous bite on a human being.

These range from the '"mildly poisonous" montane viper to "extremely poisonous"
species such as the puff adder and black mamba. Each species is illustrated
with line drawings of the head from dorsal and lateral aspects and a small
drawing of the general body shape. On the facing page is an outline of the
diagnostic characteristics of the species based on size, colour and scale
patterns, followed by brief notes on geographical distribution, habits and treat-
ment for bites. The latter; section can be very reassuring if the bite is from
one of the less poisonous species , and for the highly poisonous species the
reader .is referred to a page where more detailed discussion can be found.

The drawings, made from museum specimens, are technically impeccable, and some
of them, for example those of the five species of bush vipers (genus Atheris) ,
are beautiful.

Before packing the book away as a field guide, however, anyone who buys the
book should. study the text carefully. East Africa is home to some of the most
highly poisonous snakes in the world, and a full envenomation from some of them
carries' a high risk of death. Alex MacKay has drawn upon a lifetime of exper-
ience with East African snakes to present a step-by-step account of treatment
procedures for snakebite. After a brief preamble, the introductory discussion
begins v;ith an account of the. natural history of snakebite, a highly efficient
prey capture system. This is followed by a general discussion of snake-human
interactions and suggestions for first aid after a bite. Following the illustra-
tions is a section on short cuts to identification which synthesizes a lot of
detail. Because the treatment for a bite is dictated by the kind of snake
involved, identification is very important. The next section of the book gives
explicit information on the medical procedures for various kinds of bites, and
the authors rightly- emphasize that most of these procedures are appropriate'
only in a well-equipped hospital. Finally, for those people who spend a lot of
time in the field, the book ends with an outline of the basic components of a
snake bite kit.

Having worked for a few^ years on the ecology of non-poisonous snakes myself,

I realize that many people will prefer to cling to their irrational ideas about
snakes, but for those who wish to educate themselves this book is basic.

James J. Hebrard.

BEAUTIFUL BIRDS OF KENYA. By John Karmali, 1985. Nairobi: Westlands Sundries

Ltd. pp.l28 illustrated with colour photographs, ' Price KSh. 90/-.

This is a ve.ry competent little book , and one of interest for several reasons .

Firstly, the adjective 'little' is not used in any condescending or at all
derogatory way. This actually is a small book, only 18 X 13 cm and this dimin-
utive size may point to an increasing trend. Of course we all prefer large
format coffee table editions filled with large colour pictures but, of late,
these have become increasingly expensive. Two recent arrivals in Nairobi retail

84

at over Sh.700/- each which is enough to make anyone think twice, particularly
if a book's appeal is only of peripheral or purely pictorial interest. In a
world where small is often considered beautiful, the day of the well produced,
relatively cheap, pocket-sized coffee table edition may well be nigh, with this
book as a prime example.

Well produced it certainly is. It costs just Sh.90/“, but has all the feel
and appearance of something far dearer. The text is clearly printed and easy to
read, and the reproduction of the fine colour photographs is superb, as near
perfect as I can recall seeing anywhere.

And the photographs - 90 of them, al] in colour - are of course the book's
main attraction. , John Karm-ali * s high standards of photography need no amplifi-
cation here. I can simply say that all the pictures are excellent, both photo-
graphically and in terms of depicting their subjects. These alone, when taken
together with the excellent colour reproduction, at once make this book, both a
beautiful thing to own and very good value.

There is a refreshing absence of pictures of captive birds that purport to be
wild,' and of the use of flash, v;hi.ch produces harsh, unnatural illumination and
dark, seemingly noctmrnal backgrounds. Similarly, John has not sucC'.ambed to the
modern temptation for easiJy carried catadioptric telephoto lenses, which so
devastate backgrounds v/ith highlights.

I suppose that my favourite pictures are the v/onderfully subdued colours of
the Darter (the most effective colour photes are often those with the least
colour), the superb Lilac-breasted Roller, the Nubian Woodpecker (an infrequently
photographed bird) , and the beautiful portraits of the Speckled Mousebird and the
Bronze Sunbird. There appear' to be two errors in the captions of the plates.

The rather dark grey plumage and orange-red cere of the bird on page 82 suggest
that it is a Dark, not Pale Chanting Goshawk. And the red-eyed bird with a
partly orah^je head on page 6 3 appears to be a Golden, not Golden Palm Weaver.

The remaining part of 'the book is, of course, the text. Since he was already
in possession of the photographs necessary .for this publication, the compilation
of this text was probably John Kamali's main challenge. I say this because, to
be successful he had to hit the very narrow' mean betwc?.n v;riting that would have
been too learned’ and dry, and that which is m.erely a trite and meaningless
accompaniment to the fine pictures ,

He has succeeded. The text is well and simply written and easy to read.

He puts over some reasonably complex concepts, including some quite abstract
geology, in simple language, w^hich is an achievement for any author.

The interested reader can find out aJeout such topics as the carrying of water in
the: breast feathers -of sandgrouse , or pigeon's 'milk', or the introduction of
fish into Lake Nakuru and the subsequent breeding of pelicans on Lake Elmentaita
without wading through a mass of intricate detail. It is a pity that no further
reading list, no matter how brief and general, is included. It 'would be useful
to direct the interested reader to the mere informatj.ve of the many books and
papers on Kenya and/nr the various phenomena alluded to in the text. There
actually appears to be a. single reference - ; .rown (1973)' - on page 37; perha.ps

a bibliography was mooted but then deleted.

After a short preface, the introduction provides a brief but very useful
account of just how rich is Kenya in birds - rightly omitting a d'ubious species
total for Zaire , Kenya has more bird species than any other country in Africa
and, in the world, is surmounted only by the three .richest countries of the
'bird continent' , South .America. The au'thor then goes on to briefly discuss the
causes of this ornitliological wealth, in Kenya's very diverse habitats. His
summary of these habitats is good, although a little racere rela'tion of these to
Africa's main ecological zones v7ould really have completed the story.

The rest of the text then deals with some more commonly observed birds of
seven broad, major habitats, and .is very good. Just the thing fo.r the enquiring
mind that wants some stimulating, neatly packaged interest.. Twe minor errors

8

occur here. On page 64 the incorrect statement is twice made that bee-eaters
have an elongated central tail feather, whereas the elongation is in a pair of
feathers. On page 72 Kenya '“s pigeons and drives are given as 16 species, whereas
page 62 is correct in noting 19 species.

There are some useful cross-references botv/een chapters, and an. index that
locates each species’ text and illustration (s) .

So, all in all, a very well done second book from the Society’s Patron and
the second in a series on Kenya that Westlands Sundries Ltd. , the enterprising
publishers, have every reson of which to be proud.

Adrian D. Lewis.

TANZANIA AGAIN I

Late in July this year. Wildlife Clubs of Kenya wanted to visit the Northern
Tan,sania Parks. This was to pave the way for a visit in December by a bus- load
in the W.C.K. Bus. Having lived in Arusha for four years during the sixties
and visited the parks .regularly from Kenya until 1973, I was asked to be the
driver/guide in ray landrover. Seven junior Aaembers from Nairobi School came,
with Dr David Pearson, Yvonne Malcolm-Coe and the W.C.K, Education Officer.

V/e were the guests of Maiihai Clubs of Tanzania, and had the- privilege of free
entry to all the Northern Tanzania Parks.

A very heavily loaded landrover crossed the border at Namanga before dusk
on Friday 26 July. Would the country have chaagod a lot? We passed the border
checks with astonishing rapidity, and there was the familiar narrow but good
tarred road across, the plains to Lo.ngido. We celeb.rated vJitb tea and biscuits
as the spotted morning warblers and yellow-necked spurfov;! wished us all good
night .

After a night at Oldonyo Sarobu at the Lutheran Training Centre, v;e drove to
Arusha to meet the .Maiihai Clubs officicA.ls, novj housed in the old Roma (which
is to become a museum) , Tl:ien v;e net a most competent and charming man, David
Sabu, Director of Tanzania National ?.arks, his offices nov7 housed in the A.I.C.C.
(Aurusha International Conference Centre). Yes, .Arushei at least had a new look,
a lot of nev.' housing estates and fine hotel, buildings.. The people seemed v/e 11-
fed, and there were consumer goods in the supermarket. But would thC' animals
(and the tourists) still be in the parks?

V?c spent seven prescicus days in No.rthern Tanzania. Tiie tarred road to
Babati is break.ing up , but the raurram roads .both outside and inside the parks
are in very good condition. Axusha. National Park is still a gem, with the
Ngurdoto Crater, the delightful prospect of the west face of Kilimanjaro over:
that beautiful string of lakes called I-Iomella - only the greater flamingoes were
absent . .

Manyara Park is still full of animals and still one of the world's great bird
spectaculars, tihere tl';e freshwater r.lver runs into the lake, there were flocks
of yellow-billed storks and three species of pelican with venders in . the shallows
including sandpipers and in the distance lines of pink flamingoes - plus a great
congregation of hippos .. Manyara now has pleasant self-help bandas as well as
the camp-site.

But the great spectacle, was, :as always, Ngorongoro Crater. Vie were too heavily
loaded to damp in the crater, and once the sun set, the Simba Camp-site on the
rim was almost ar ctic , w.lth driving ro.in on the roorni.T\g we broke carap to go on to
Serengeti. But our day in the Crater v;as idyllic ~ the brov;sing herds everywhere,
a pair of cheetah brothers (apparently) crossing the track on the hunt, hippos
and lions, flamingo on the lake, and (a once familiar sight in the crater) a rhino

Bb

white with alkaline dust, we recorded approximately a hundred species of birds
in the crater in about six hours.

After the icy rim of the crater the long descent, to the eastern Serengeti
Plains was almost traumatic. A v/ave of heat met us as we stopped for coffee at
the first turn-off for Loliondo. Almost at once we spotted a "Kenya" violet-
backed Sunbird. At the park entrance there were Greater Kestrel, and several
lions kept up the. reputation of the Simba Kopjes. We found only the resident
game around Seroner.a - the lions each eveni.ng at the camp-site were really too
close for comfort, and on one early morning stroll Dr Pearson made close
acquaintance V7ith an old male who (fortunately) was limping and clearly rather
ill. A.gain our roll of birds reached approximately a hundred, including on a
bare tree a trio of Ground Hcrnbills north of Lobo, on our way back to Kenya to
see the migration in the .Mara. We hardly bothered to look at the lions at Sand
River .

Northern Tanzania is still a beautiful, wild and e.xciting place. People
almost everywhere were welcoming and friendly. The lodges are still being
“ rehcibili bated” , although the gift shops are well stocked (but insist on a
receipt for everything you buy) . Officially, the lodges prefer payment in
sterling or dollar travellers' cheques.

We enjoyed an extremely warm welcome from all connected with the Parks and
Conservation. The Parks are quite as breath-taking and magnificent as ever,
although entrance fees for tourists (including Kenya residents) are really too
high and may be self defeating. Considering it was "high season” we sav? very
few tourists. The only disappointment in a magnificent trip was to find only
one of three park museums - that at Arusha - still functioning, and even at
Arusha drawers once filled with bird, skins were sadly depleted. We should do
all we can by moral and other support to enable T.anzania National Parks to
preserve one of the v7orld's greatest wildlife sanctuaries.

The "toll" of bird species seen are as follows: Manyara 52 (in one after-

noon) ; Ngorongoro 110; Serengeti 95.

Peter J. Johnston, Box 44436, Nairobi

NGORONGORO REVISITED

Nov/ is the time to visit Ngorongoro. Portents are that the tourists will arrive
in numbers before long. There are rumours that the two lodges on the crater rim
and the Lake Manyara Hotel - perhaps other hotels and lodges in the country too
- will be properly managed again, and a great effort vjill be made to revive the
tourist industry in the .Arusha region.

Early in October our family had the opportunity to join friends resident in
Tanzania on a little safa.ri. The locals had the landrovcr, the tents, the food
and had organised it all. We flew in in grand style a.nd were met by them at
Lake Manyara airstrip. Incidentally, clearance for private flights into and
within Tanzania are issued quickly, of course we had to fly via Kilimanjaro
airport to clear customs and immigration. The airport was clean, all the v
officials were frie.ndly and we managed to settle all the administrative matters
within 45 minutes . .

We spent the afternoon in the Lake Manyara Park. There was plenty of game
and birds, including migrant waders. We stopped for a sundowner at the hotel.

To look in the evening down towards Lake Manyara, Tarangire and see Mount Meru in
the distance is one of the great sights in Africa. We spent the night at Gibbs
Farm. The Kullanders who ovm the farm and look after their guests personally are
superb hosts and Margaret's cuisine is justly praised by all who have ever dined
at the farm: home cooking of home grown produce is her secret. The surrounds

are pleasant ^ the accommodation simple but comfortable and the birdlife in the
garden very remarkable-. The farm is situated at the edge of the conservation
area and the house is immediately next to the forest, (Gibbs Farm, Box 1501,
Karatu, Tanzania. Tel; Karatu 25, Telex: 42041 Pankertz.)

The next morning , on our way to the Ngorongoro Park gate , we drove through
one of the most eroded country'sides of East Africa; gully erosion, sheet
erosion, wind erosion, all combined due to the .abuse of the fragile soils by
cattle. The valley all the way up to the Oldeani Farms is over-populated, over-
stocked and abounds with examples of inexpert land use. 'The road to the gate is
in tolerable state; within the conservation area it is quite good, except for
some fearsome patches of mud up on the crater rim.

Just as we reached the rim, the legendary invisible hand lifted the curtain
of dark wafting clouds, and there it was - illuminated by some superb master of
lighting, this wonder of the world below our feet!

We collected our guide, John, who is a courteous and knov/ledgeable young man.
He soon realised that we v/ere interested in ‘little things' too, and he contrib-
uted greatly to the naturalist happo/iings of the next two days .

The road into the crater (northwest from Ngorongoro village) is better than
the old road used to be. We made our camp at the Acacia Tree campsite (there
are only four campsites). There was water, the toilet and the shower were
serviceable, though there was the mandatory amount of rubbish about. John
assured us that the camp was cleaned up regularly. Why is it allowed to be messed
up in the first place? But then I vrill never understand the visitor who travels
h.alf-way around the globe who deposits an empty beer-can or a film-wrapper.

The afternoon game drive was eventful. We saw six rhinos, that it about one
third of the remaining lot, (There used to be some hundred rhinos in the crater,
there are less than twenty now left.)

Apart from the slaughter of the rhinos, life in 'the crater has not been
interfered with, there is plenty of game. The tracks axe good to tolercible.

There is no track discipline though, v.’hich for the lack of traffic is of no
consequence, we saw perhaps six other cars in two days.

A_ll in all I think there is more game in the crater than I can remember from
previous visits. I have not been there for 15 years. In those days there were
a good number of many.attas within the crater. Whether the fact that the Masai
v;ere moved out (they are still allowed to herd their cattle down to the Lake
Magadi on the crater floor for salt) , or whether the lack of tourists or just
random change accoun'ts for it, there were more plaijis game than I could remember
having seen, also more buffalo; lions were everywhere. On the other hand, there
have been no hunting dog reported in the crater for years and there are very few
bat-eared foxes, probably because of distemper or some similar viral disease.
There has been no census for some years now, but John v^as adamant that numbers
of wildebeeste, zebra, buffalo and lions have increased, as have' gazelles of
both variety.

During the night v/e were visited in the camp by elephants and hyaenas and in
our fig tree we had a most vociferous tree hyrax. The morning started with a
pride of lion feeding on a zebra near the camp, in attendance hyaenas and both
kinds of jackals. The treat was the hippo pool - I always wonder how those hippo
got there in the first place? .Also the lake is quite large. Presently there were
many Lesser Flamingo. To see the bathing flamingo and moreover, the queue of
flamingoes awaiting their turn to bathe in the delta of the river is a great
spectacle. After lunch we broke camp and headed back to Gibbs Farm. The track
leading out of the crater is as arduous as ever, although well maintained.

Having said our kwaheri to John we bade goodbye to the crater at the point where
Empcikai track joins the main road. There is amemoria]. to all those who lost their
lives to save the rhino. Unfortunately, the area around this memorial is full
of rubbish, the type of deposits indicating that Tanzanians and foreigners
compete in building a monument from consumer waste.

as

The next raorning we walked from Gibbs Farm into the. forest. There were signs
of game every^vhere , droppings and tracks of elephants buffalo, bushbuck, bushpig
and leopard. In spite of the dense population in the valley there were no signs
of poaching and tree cutting. It was a pleasant walk. Thereafter we were driven
by our friends to Manyara airfie.ld, flev; to Kilimanjaro airport and managed to

finish all the form-filling and stamping within half an hour. Thus ended a

memorable saf.ari to Ngorongoro.

My report would be incomplete v;ithout mention of fees and expenses . Everyone
vmc is not a resident of Tanzania has to pay in foreign currency. The park

entrance fee is $15 or the equivalent per person per 24 hours. I knov; that some

people will bo scandalized to learn this. In my opinion, the Tanzanians are
right to charge such fees from visitors. The parks need to be guarded, the roads
maintained and the forests patrolled. It always amazes me that people are will-
ing to spend considerable sums on flights, cars, hotels, meals and drinks and
expect the park entrance fees to cost less than that of a whiskey and soda.

It is a different matter altorrether to make parks accessible to residents as
cheaply as possible. Indeed the fees for Tanzanian residents are substantially
less, alm.ost by a factor of 10, if I rememJoer correctly.

The Tanzanians have mianaged to preserve the Ngorongo.ro conservation area in
ail its splendour. i^>part from the decimation of the rhino they have achieved
a not inconsiderable feat in preventing wholesale destrucio.n which threatens
some other parks in eastern Africa.

Whether they will be able to find a toler-ab.le balance .between conservation
and the greatly expanded volume of tourism for v;hich they have great hopes,

(and as we were at Kilimanjaro, a Sabena DC. 10 just disgorged som.e 200 to’orists)
remains to be seen.

Perhaps the fees will need to be hiked even' further? Perhaps the crater will
need to be policed, poor track discipline and molesting of game preventd by
surveillance - a. task which could be easily accomplished by installing and manning
a few telescopes on the rim. Discarding of rubbish ought to be fined. (As we
left the conservation area v/e came upon two cars of Italian tourists. They were
just having a little coffee break. When they drove off, the site where the two
cars had stood v;as outlined by kleenex, coca cola cans, bottle tops, cigarette
butts, film wrappers eind plastic bags.)

Those who do not have the good fortune to have Tanzanian friends able and
wj.lling to organise a car and safari naraphernalia can of course take their own
vehicle across the border. (Four wheel drive mandatory in the crater).

The bureaucratic framework required for such an adventure is formidable, so
I understand, but one laay hope that .brotherhood between our nations will prevail
and as the volume of traffic increases , perhaps the number of forms to be filled
out will decrease

Lastly, one can buy a complete safari in Arusha and travel in expensive
luxury. !;vhichever way, the safari to Kgorongoro is an unforgettable occasion.

Imre Loefler, Box 47964, Nairobi.

NOTICE

Little damaged specimens of birds, such as road 'kills’ either fresh or deep
frozen, are of use and interest in the Bird Room at the .Museum. They can either
be made-up as skins or as skeletons.

SHIKRA' PREDATION ON UGANDA WALL GECKO

On the morning of July 25, 1985 I was typing a letter to an old friend when
suddenly there was a resounding bang on rriy open .study v;indow and I had a first
impression of a large bird, a hawk or a pigeon, attempting to get through my
window screen right beside me. It flew directly to a. lower limb of a tree in
view from the window, where it proceeded to tear up and swallow a small lizard.
The bird was a Shikra Accipiter badius and the sraal'l lizard was a wall or house
gecko Hemidactylus brooksii anqulatus abundant both inside and outside of almost
every house and building in the Kampala area.

3y sheer coincidence, my desk vras littered with manuscript pages of an article
I am writing of a two year study done here in Uganda on this gecko. The section
on predation mentions three records of snakes {Philothamnus irregularis , found
in the study area - Nakarere University campus) taking geckos; and also the fact
that some of the geckos harbour the immature stages of an acanthocephalan
parasite Centrorhynchus , possibly C. milvus or C. amphibus that occurs as an
adult worm in falconiformes and in paratenic hosts such as lizards and snakes.

I hypothesized that a possible predator on the geckos 'was the Africa.n Kite
Milvus micrans which might become infected with the acanthocephalans from eating
geckos. Now, I have first-hcind evidence that Shikras may harbour acanthoceph-
alans as well. Of course, there are other likely candidates, such as the Lizard
Buzzard. Kaupifalco monogrammicus abundant here and nesting in rny garden, though
I have yet to see one capture a gecko.

A brief literature search revealed that the Shikra eats a variety of things
but chiefly lizards. I have heard this thum.ping sound on my house before and
considered it 'was probably some bird that had carelessly flown into a window.

Now, I will be more alert to the possibility that birds may be capturing geckos
off the side of the house. I once watched a Harrier Hawk Polyboridcs radiatus
at Entebbe fluttering along the side of a building just belov; the overhanging
roof and guessed it was searching for young birds in the nests of swallows and
swifts. Now, however, I ein not so certain about its search activities.

John D. Goodman, Zoology, Box 7062, Makerere, Kampala, Uganda

PEREGRINE STRIKING DOVE AT NGULIA LODGE

Sitting on the terrace of Nguiia Lc.dge in Tsavo West National Park one evening in
mid October, we witnessed the follov/ing: There were elephant, buffalo and impala

at the waterhole , the Augur Buzzards were giving their demonstration flights to
the envious pilots and just in front of us there was a group of doves , mostly ring-
necked. Suddenly the doves flew up, and some three metres from where we sat, at
approximately eye-level there was what first appeared to be a mid-air collision
between a dove and a larger bird, the latter having appeared from nowhere, but was
now sweeping upwards; the dove fell to the ground flapping and was set upon by what
was now identified as a large (? female) peregrine. The peregrine grabbed the dove
with its feet, spread its wings so as to protect its prey and pecked at the dove
v?hich then stopped flapping.

The peregrine sat there for perhaps half a minute then flew off with the dove
clutched in the right foot towards the escarpment where' we lost sight of it as it
flew down below our horizon.

At home, consulting Brown, Urban and Newman’s The Birds of Africa Vol.l,

I decided that in spite of its size, this bird is likely to have been Falco pereg-
rinus minor, I also found (on page 475) that it does occur in the Tsavo thornbush.
Further (page 476) that there are few food records but that its main food are prob-
ably doves. Well, our peregrine struck a dove, hence this note.

Imre Loefler, Box 47964, Nairobi

90

PIED KINGFISHERS

On 27 October 1985, while boating slowly round Lesiikut Island in Lake Baringo,
I watched several Pied Kingfishers Ceryle rudis mostly females. Two sitting
close together I took to be a mother with her daughter. These were joined by
the only male I saw that day. Soon I realized that all the birds I was seeing
were individually marked, by the set and size of their black chest bands.

One was closed to form a 'V, another bird's band was rounded at its ends, a
third, one of the two I thought to be related, had one side shaped just like
both sides of her mother's band . . the bird she was sitting with, whereas the
other side was quite different. The second line on the male I watched was so
thin that it was hard to see even at close quarters .

Sue Silvester, Box 30333, Nairobi.

OWLS FEEDING ON TERMITES

On the evening of 5 November 1985 during heavy rain, the first rain we had had
in our Loresho Ridge West garden, I watched our resident Spotted Eagle Owl Bubo
africanus striding about the lawn feasting on termites which had emerged vrith the
rain. Peter Silvester arrived home having driven through the Langata Forest also
at dusk in heavy rain and reported having seen several unidentified large Owls,
among other birds, doing the same thing I

Sue Silvester, Box 30333,- Nairobi.

FhLCONS AND EAGLES IN TSAVO WEST NATIONAL PARK

On 20 November David Pearson arrived at dusk to join the ringing group at Ngulia
and reported having seen a large flock of up to 400 Eastern Red-footed Falcons
Falco amurensis going to roost in trees along the road between the main track
to Kilaguni and the track off to Ngulia via the Bandas. It was thought that they
would still be there the following day; as indeed they were, and a large flock
of several hundreds with many European Rollers Coracias garrulus among them were
watched for som.e time at mid-day on 21 November.

They were hav;king insects, possibly termites though we could not be sure,
feeding on the wing; flying and feeding with incredible agility and grace. The
European Rollers appeared to catch their prey and then settle either on the
ground or in trees and bushes to feed.

On leaving the park on 23 November the falcons were not seen, but on the main
track tov/ards the park gate several parties of eagles, mainly Lesser Spotted
Eagles Aqu'ila powarina with a few Steppe Eagles A. nlpalensis among them were
watched feeding at the holes of emerging slate termites on the road. They were
not bothered by the audience of two cars , but continued hopping and dashing from

one termite hole to the next as the insects emerged. They were all in good plum-

age and looked most engaging on the ground with their fine 'plus fours'..

29 birds v;ere counted in one group a.nd the total was probably near 40.

David Pearson saw a party of 40 on the road above Ngulia Lodge, about 35 kra

further south, later tha^t same day. Possibly ,the same group for, again, there
was the same number with Lesser Spotted constituting about 80% of the total, the
remainder being Steppe Eagles .

91

Some other visitors to Ngulia had seen a similar concentration of eagles on
the Ngulia airstrip that same afternoon, feeding on the ground at termite holes
also. ,

Obviously, we' were fortunate to witness part of the main southward passage
of these eagles which are not generally seen in such large numbers on , the ground
as they presumably fly through at a great height, unnoticed usually.

Daphne Backhurst, Box 24734, Nairobi ,

BROWN HOUSE SNAKE - A HEZ^RTY APPETITE

I acquired a Brown House Snake Boaedon fuligonsus during the month of December
1984. Its /length was approximately 25 cm and at the moment (August 1935) it is
over 50 cm ' long . •

During this period it has consumed 20 Ge;ckos Hemidactylus mabouia , 3 Skinks
Mabuxja striata and 3 white mice Mus musculus .

On 18 April 1985 the snake fed on two Geckos and one skink, one after the
ether. On 22 April 1985 it also fed on two mice simultaneously.

"^The above information does show that a juvenile snake does feed a lot, and
grows rather fast/-

Pritpal Singh Soorae, Box 44919, Nairobi.

RECENT E.A.N.H.S. CAMPS

In June we went to Olorgesailie ~ a select but highly appreciative group of about
25. Yvonne Malcolm-Coe and Peter LcPerieyled our bird walks, and it was quite
pleasantly cool most of the day. The Ndegwa children and Nairobi School junior
memtjers made sure there were not many dull moments. Oar best sighting was an
immature Red-chested Cuckoo being fed by a Wh,ite-browed Scrub Robin.

In September we went to Kiboko Estate where Finn Davey, the manager, had gone
out of his way to provide walks along the Athi River v/ith bamboo foot bridges.

In this varied habitat we saw riverside birds, birds of the drier bush. Three-
banded Plovers and sandpipers in the shallows of a nev/ dam. Dori Brass and Peter,
Le Pelley did' some, excellent spotting for us, including a female black- cuckoo
shrike on an island in the river by some falls, and, just as we were leavi.ng, a
small 'party of Retz ' s Red-billed Shrikes.

Some of us decided to go up Oldonya Sabuk on the way back. It was so, cool
and bracing up there. We heard cisticolas and touracoes calling, and had an
excellent view of a migrating wheatear on open rocky ground.

But one must now take a couple of armed rangers with the party - one requests
them at the gate, so make sure you have room in your vehicle for them

Peter Johnson, Box 44486, Nairobi.

92 ■

BIRDWALK AT MUTHAIGA GOLF CLUB, NAIROBI 8 AUGUST 1985

This account must start v;ith an apology. This excursion had originally been
planned for another destination, but this venue had to be cancelled due to unfor-
seen complications, and I felt it best to postpone the function altogether. Thus
I extracted the notice from the August Newsletter, completely forgetting that it
would also appear in the Museum Society Newsletter. This produced really wonder-
ful confusion and so, since it was obvious that at least some men±)ers would turn
up on the day, I resolved to take them to any destination that came to mind. Blany
apologies for this lapse .

As it v;as, the situation was saved by Mary Sinclair, who obtained permission
from Muthaiga Golf Club to walk along the boundary of their course and the Karura
Forest. The habitat was open bushed and wooded grassland, denser along a stream
valley and at the forest edge and 18 participants set out at 7,20 a.m. on a clear,
beautiful morning. You may shudder at this timing on a Sunday, but there really
is no substitute in birdwatching for an early start, and even an hour earlier
would not have been amiss. Even at the altitude of Nairobi, the quality of bird-
watching certainly decreases by 9 or 10 a.m.

We walked across the stream valley, along the scrubby edge of some secondary
forest: growth, and then back across tlie golf course to the stream, valley again.
There were few birds in the clear sky. Small numbers of Pied Crows continually
moved eastv;ards, presumably from roosts around Nairobi centre to scavenging areas
further towards the city's outskirts. As the day warmed up and thermals started
to form, this free lift v;as utilised by Black Kites, Marabous and Pied Crows,
which spiralled up on motionless wings to great heights. The date was too esrly
for non-aquatic migrants from Europe and, apart from, these three species, the
clear sky, so good for birdwatching, was disappointingly free of large birds.

Typical Nairobi garden birds, Common Bulbuls, Speckled Mousebirds, Northern
Olive Thrushes, Red-eyed Doves, Rufous Sparrows and Baglafecht (formerly Reichen-
ows) Weavers, were present in plenty. The marked contrast between Fiscal and the
Tropical Boubou was well seen. Although the two are similar in appearance, the
former is a true shrike, a bird of open habitats and exposed perches, ivith relat-’
ively simple, usually harsh calls. The boubou, on the other hand, is a bush
shrike, equally carnivorous but preferring dense tangles of vegetation and with
far more complicated and beautiful, often duet, calls.

Birds of the scrubby forest edge included the Yellow-v/hiskered Greebul, with
its monotonous ’chip-chop® call. Yellow-breasted Apalis , Kartlaub's Turaco, White-
headed Barbet, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Violet-backed Starling and Black Rough-
wing. There v/ere excellent views of a male Brown-backed Woodpecker investigating
a hole in a low branch. This was the most uncommon bird that we saw but, rather
than being a rarity in the usual sense of the term, i.e. a wanderer that is more
common elsewhere, this woodpecker seems to be generally uncommon in Kenya,

The thicker scrub tangles around the stream valley produced Black-tipped
Mongoose Herpestes sanguineus , Grey-capped Wa.rbler, African Citril and Holub's
Golden Weaver. The morning's tally of 48 species was unexpectedly and brilliantly
supplemented by an all too brief glimpse of a Cuckoo Hawk (formerly Falcon) in
Mary Sinclair's Muthaiga garden. There has been a spate of sightings of this
raptor in the Nairobi area recently, but whether these records represent an influx
of intra-African migrants (as occurs in the coastal lowlands) or simply season-
ally more extrovert behaviour of a resident highland population is unknown.

A.D. Lewis, Box 25296, Nairobi.

RINGING NEWS

Another recovery of a Kenya ringed bird has been reported recently:

Charadrius inongolos Mongolian or Lesser Sand Plover

Ringed 21.12.82. Fullgrown. Mida Creek, Kenya 3°22'S, 39°58'E

Recovered (caught) Shadikor, Pasni (Baluchistan), Pakistan. 25®13'N, 63’’30'E

93

NEW MEMBERS

The following new members have been elected: Localo

Cynthis Liind Jensen, Box 48117, Nairobi.
William Winter, Box 24571, Nairobi.

John C. Edwards, British High Commission
Box 30465, Nairobi.

P.B. Rossiter, Vet. Res. Lab Box 32 Muguga
J.H.S. Pearce, B.H.C. Box 30465, Nairobi.
Y. Keshavjee, Box 42200, Nairobi.

Z^bdul H Rehmanji, Box 48668, Nairobi.
David M. Gambo, Box 4, Hola.

Mr & Mrs B.F.Wray, Box 39234, Nairobi.

Ms M. Clark/H. Gibbon, Imani School,

Box 750, Thikci.

Judith C. Close, Box 14972, Nairobi.

Mr & Mrs P.A. Victor, Box 41122, Nairobi.

C.N. Marshall, Box 41736, Nairobi.

H. Mahabir & Family, Box 41122, Nairobi.
Myrtle Spencer, S.I.L. Box 44456, Nbi -
Mrs H. Garland, c/o Lake Baringo Club,

Box 4755 1 t Nai rob i .

Egerton College ,

Friends World College, Box 526, Machakos.
Cathy Stewart, Y.VJ.C.A. , Nairobi,

Mark C. Ross, Box 30576, Nairobi.

Dhyani Berger, Box 41389, Nairobi.

Kurt Leuschner, Box 30197, Nairobi.

Joyce W. Muturi-Kioi, Nilestar Safari
Can!: re , Box 42291 , Nair ob i ,

Jeremy J. Thompson, Box 4.3090, Nairobi.

Overseas ;

Dr Dolph Schluter, Zoology Dept., University of British Columbia, Vancouver,

B.C. V6T 2A9. Canada.,

Braa Boyle, 3363 W. King Edward, Vancouver, E.C. Caricida V6S 1N9

Anders Bjornstad c/o Inger Nordal even Bakken, 16c, M-1345, Osteras, Norway.

Dr F.F. Willingham, 12310 Gaylawood Dr., Houston, Texas 77066, U.S..A,.

Capt, David N. Simpson, c/o Swire Pacific Ship Management, Box 1, Hong Kong.
Richard Friend Allan, S Shrubbery Avenue, Woi'cester, England.

Rose Ann Rowlett, 1401 Redbud Trail, A-ustin, Texas 70746, U.S.A..

Commonwealth Institute of Entomology, 56 Queensgato, London SW7 5JR, England.

A LAMENT

Glorious bird v?ho Augurs v;ell
soaring high on a thrrnal
pinions fanned reeling
and drifting revealing
a tawny tail

Seme hidden hazard tumbled you
stooped to plummet upon your preyl
fractured you lay
a day to die

I found you stiffened
’neath an evergreen
collecting you to be entombed
in naphthalene

and pray that retored

if not to flight

yet for display

you may delight

many who won ' t have known

the joy of seeing you winging home

gliding across the evening sky

Susan Silvester *

*apropos the notice on page 89.

94

EAST AFRICA NATURAL

HISTORY SOCIETY

OFFICE BEARERS 19S5-6

Chairman; Professor J„0. Kokwaro »

Vice-Chairman: Dr _AoDo Lewis

»

Joint Editors: Journal East Africa Natural History Society & National Museum

Dr J„J, Hebrard & Dr H.J. Beentje

Secretary; Miss M.F» Buyu
Treasurer: Dr S.G. Njuguna

Hon. Librarian: Miss P. Allen

Executive Committee: (in addition to the above) Mr G.C. Eackhurst (Ringing
Organizer) , Mr N.K. arap Chumo, Dr M.W. Karanja, Dr D.J. Pearson,

Dr M. Ritchie, ?ir D.A^. Turner, Dr D. Widdowson

Co-opted Members: J'^irs I. Ayres, Dr C. GaJcahu, Mrs J. Hayes, Dr P. Johnson

(Functions Organizer) , Mr J.S. Karmali, Mrs F. Ng^weno, Mxs J. Rudnai

Ornithological Sub-Committee: Dr D.J. Pearson (Chairman), G.C. Eackhurst,

M.A.C. Coverdale, J.H. Fanshawe , Mrs C. Gichuki, Dr M.W. Xaranja,

Dr A..D. Lewis, D.K, Richards, Dr M.E. Smalley, T. Stevenson, D.A. Turner
Uganda based: Dr M.J. Carswell, Professor D.E. Pomeroy

Tanzania based:N.E. Baker, Dr K.M. Howell
U,K. Based: J.S.S. Beesley, B.S. Meadows, J.F. Reynolds

Joint Library Sub-Committee : ^liss P. Allen, N.K. arap Chumo v

Bulletin Editor: Mrs D„ Backhurst

Newsletter Editor: Hiss H.F. Buyu

*********•***■*•***■*•*•*•■** + *****:':**•************* *-lr** + 'A***-i A-***************************

The above list supercedes that which appears on the back cover of this Bulletin.
The remaining information remains the same. *

*** ************** ********** ********vV ************************ **********************

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THE EAST AFRICAN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Chairman: Prof. J O. Kokwaro
Vice-Chairman: Dr A.D Lewis

Joint Editors: Jl E. African Nat. History Soc. Nat. Mus: Dr. J.J. Hebrard and Dr. D. Widdowson
Secretary: Mrs. B. Bryan
Treasurer: Dr. S.G. Njuguna
Hon. Librarian: Miss P. Allen

Executive Committee: (in addition to the above) Mr. G.C. Backhurst (Ringing Organiser), Mr, N.K. arap Chumo,
Dr. D.J. Pearson, Mr. D.K. Richards, Mr. D A. Turner.

Co-opted Members: Mr. P. Davey, Mrs. J. Hayes, Mr. J.S. Karmali, Mrs. F. Ng'weno, Mrs. A.L. Campbell,

Dr, C. Gakahu

Journal Editorial Sub-Committee: Dr J.J. Hebrard, Dr. D. Widdowson.

Ornithological Sub-Committee: Dr. D.J. Pearson, D A. Turner, G.C. Backhurst, Dr. A.D. Lewis, T. Stevenson,

D. K. Richards, Dr. M E. Smalley, Dr. K.M. Howell & N.E. Baker (Tanzania), Dr. M.J. Carswell, Prof. D.E. Pomeroy
(Uganda), B.S. Meadows, J.S.S. Beesley & J.F. Reynolds (United Kingdom).

Joint Library Sub-Committee: (Society representatives) Miss P. Allen & Mr. N. arap Chumo.

Nest Record Scheme Organiser: Mr, P.B Taylor
Bulletin Editor: Mrs. D. Backhurst

MEMBERSHIP

This offers you free entry to the National Museum, Nairobi; free lectures, films, slide shows or discussions every
month in Nairobi; field trips and camps led by experienced guides; free use of the Joint Society-National Museum
Library (postal borrowing is possible); reciprocal arrangements with the Uganda Museum, Kampala; family
participation; wives and children of members may attend most Society functions; one copy of the EANHS Bulletin
every two months; a copy of each Journal published during your period of membership; the Society controls the
ringing of birds in East Africa and welcomes new ringers and runs an active Nest Record Scheme; activities such
as plant mapping and game counting are undertaken on a group basis. Membership rates are given at the foot of
this page.

JOURNAL

The Society publishes The Journal of the East African Natural History Society and National Museum. Each issue
consists of one paper, however, sometimes two or more short papers may be combined to form one number. The
aim of this method of presentation is to ensure prompt publication of scientific information; a title page is issued
at the end of each year so that the year's papers may be bound together. Contributions, which should be typed in
double spacing on one side of the paper, with wide margins, should be sent to the Secretary, Box 44486, Nairobi,
Kenya. Authors receive twenty-five reprints of their article free, provided that these are ordered at the time the
proofs are returned.

E. A.N.H.S. BULLETIN

This is a duplicated magazine issued six times a year, which exists for the rapid publication of short notes, articles,
letters and reviews. Contributions, which may be written in clear handwriting or typed, should be sent to The
Editor (EANHS Bulletin), Box 44486, Nairobi, Kenya. Line drawings will be considered if they add to the value of
the article. Photographs cannot be published.

SCOPUS

The Ornithological Sub-Committee publishes this bird journal five times a year. Cost: EANHS members
KSHS.75/- p.a. All correspondence to D A. Turner, Box 48019, Nairobi, Kenya.

MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION RATES

LOCAL

Institutional (schools, libraries) . . , annual payment KShs. 1 00/-
Full Local and overseas . . . annual payment: KShs. 1007-

Junior (full-time student, no Journal supplied)

. . . annual payment: K.Shs. 107-

Life Membership KShs. 15007-

OVERSEAS

US$ ll OOfst. 7.00

US$ ll.OOfst. 7.00

US$ 4.00 f St. 2.50
US$ 144.00 £st.90.00

Subscriptions are due 1 st January. From 1 st July you may join for KShs. 507- and receive publications from that
date. Application forms for membership are obtainable from the Secretary, Box 44486, Nairobi.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

3 9088 01230 2998

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