Mr Malik, a shy and thoughtful widower, has become enamoured with the dignified and intelligent Mrs Rose Mbikwa. Mrs Mbikwa is the leader of the Tuesday morning bird walk of the East African Ornithological Society. As Mr Malik painfully summons the courage to invite Mrs Mbikwa to the Hunt Ball, a rival appears on the scene in the form of the raffish, rich and unscrupulous Mr Khan. Instantly charmed upon meeting Mrs Mbikwa, he invites her to the annual Hunt Ball.

What are civilised men to do in such a crisis? Why, they retire to the Asadi Club where a wager is soon conceived: whoever can identify the most species of birds in a week will win the right to invite Mrs Mbikwa to the ball. A gauntlet is thrown; the birds are off – flying, flocking, frolicking – and the narrative moves up a gear.