58 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



naturalists. They generally build not far above the ground. 

 Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, and crossed, 

 and the whole supported by the body of a limb or a crotch. 

 Sometimes a nest w T ill be found near the end of a strong 

 leafy branch twenty or thirty feet -from the ground. One 

 I have lately seen that could not be less than forty feet, 

 and more probably it was fifty. But this is an unusual 

 height. 



" Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed 

 in pursuit of food and solitude, according to the force of 

 circumstances. We more often see them in elevated 

 places ; but this arises from the fact that the low grounds, 

 being more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the 

 oftener cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in 

 suitable trees for their nests. . . . It is seldom that 

 more than one or two nests are seen upon the same tree, 

 or in the same neighbourhood : five have been found, but 

 it w T as an unusual circumstance." 



" They are very filthy in their habits It 



is a tradition with the natives generally here, that they 

 were once members of their own tribe : that for their de- 

 praved habits they w T ere expelled from all human society, 

 and that through an obstinate indulgence of their vile pro- 

 pensities, they have degenerated into their present state 

 of organization. They are, however, eaten by them, and 

 when cooked with the oil and pulp of the palm-nut con- 

 sidered a highly palatable morsel. 



" They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in 

 their habits, and, on the part of the mother, much affec- 

 tion for their young. The second female described was 

 upon a tree when first discovered, with her mate and two 

 young ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse was 

 to descend with great rapidity, and make off into the 

 thicket, with her mate and female offspring. The young 



