. The birds of Africa, comprising all the species which occur in the Ethiopian region . o befound in the neighbourhood of the precipitous cliffs whichcrown the range, and are in many places quite perpendicularfor some hundreds of feet. These cliffs are studded withwind-worn cavities, varying in size from a pigeon-hole to agood-sized cavern. In the former the Morios make theirhomes, flying in and out after the manner of Jackdaws, andindeed, when seen from above, flat at the edge of thecliff, the bird, with his grey head and noisy cry, greatlyresembles the familiar Jack. The larger holes
. The birds of Africa, comprising all the species which occur in the Ethiopian region . o befound in the neighbourhood of the precipitous cliffs whichcrown the range, and are in many places quite perpendicularfor some hundreds of feet. These cliffs are studded withwind-worn cavities, varying in size from a pigeon-hole to agood-sized cavern. In the former the Morios make theirhomes, flying in and out after the manner of Jackdaws, andindeed, when seen from above, flat at the edge of thecliff, the bird, with his grey head and noisy cry, greatlyresembles the familiar Jack. The larger holes are tenantedby Vultures, Hawks, Eagles and Owls, and seem to be ageneral breeding-place for Northern Somaliland, as from thetop of the cliffs the land slopes away southwards hundreds ofmiles, and forms a vast undulating plain, while towards thenorth there is a rapid fall of 0,000 feet in the short spaceof forty miles which intervenes between the Goolis and thesea. Heuglin met with them in South Kordofan, Fazogl,and nearly as far north as Barka, in pairs or small parties, < u o gm. -p ONYCHOGNATHUS BLYTHI 109 frequenting the rocky highlands, and tlie high trees andpasture laud of the valley, were noisy and cautious, perchingon the ground like Magpies. Blanford writes: {AmijdrusrUpelli, Geol. and Zool. Abyss, p. 398). This race aboundsaround Senafe, and elsewhere in Tigre. I did not notice anyAmijdri in Lasta. As a rule, these birds keep to the high-lands, at about from 7,000 to 8,000 feet, but I shot onespecimen in May as low as Suru, barely 2,000 feet abovethe sea. The following measuiements are taken from fourspecimens of each sex: Male, wing 65 ; tail G25 to 05 ; bill11 to 1-15 ; female, wing 612 to 0-25 ; tail 6-25 ; bill IOto 1-05. All the three species of Amydrus collected by me appearedto be mainly, if not entirely, frugivorous, living chiefly on thefruits of various kinds of Ficus, of Juniperus procerce, & also occasionally feed on the ground on seeds. Theyroost
Size: 1279px × 1954px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1896
