6 Lieut. II. R. Kelham on 



scarcely fly at all, but ran at a great pace, and showed much 

 cleverness in hiding itself by crouching flat on the ground, 

 taking advantage of any liolc or depression ; its irides were 

 straw-colour, like those of the adult. 



I used to see the Malays in Perak employ these birds as 

 decoys to catch others of their kind, much in the same way 

 as Dr. Jerdon in his ' ISirds of India ' describes it as being 

 done by the natives in the south of India. 



The decoy, usually a hen bird, is enclosed in a small wicker 

 cage, having an arrangement by which, on the breaking of a 

 thread which is stretched across the bars, a net springs over 

 the front of the cage. This contrivance is placed in a likely 

 spot in the jungle ; and the wild Quails, attracted by the 

 " calling " of the decoy, try to get at it, and, fluttering against 

 the outside of the bars, break the thread, set free the spring- 

 net, and are caught. 



Dr. Jerdon says that in India all the birds thus caught are 

 hens, as are the decoys : unfortunately I neglected to see if 

 such was the case in Perak ; but if so, it conclusively proves 

 that it is not sexual desire, but their pugnacity, that is so fatal 

 to them. The female is the larger and by far the more hand- 

 some bird of the two — the male wanting the deep-black throat 

 and upper breast, and being altogether less boldly marked. 



Glareola orientalis, Blyth. 



The Swallow-Plover is very common during the seasons of 

 migration, arriving at the same time as the Golden Plover, 

 Charadrius fulvus ; but I never met with it at other times of 

 the year. DuringMarch, and again in September and October, 

 great numbers pass over the island of Singapore ; but they are 

 then so tame that it is poor sport shooting them : often they 

 squatted so closely that I walked within a few yards before 

 they would rise ; then they frequently settled again after fly- 

 ing a short distance. Perhaps this extraordinary tameness 

 was owing to the fatigue occasioned by migrating. I noticed 

 that they were generally found in large flocks on cultivated 

 ground, and were particularly fond of ploughed land, more 

 especially if it was on a hillside. 



