192 Lieut. H. R. Kelham on 



one occasion I threw to one of them^ as fast as I could, one 

 by one, several small fish about six inches in length ; these 

 he gulped down to the number of thirty-two, and even then 

 did not appear satisfied. 



" After they had been with us about a month, one morning 

 one of them looked rather sorry for itself, and basked in the 

 sun with outspread wings for several hours ; but later in the 

 day he lay down on the grass with his eyes closed, evidently 

 very sick ; by him stood his brother, quite unconcerned, and, 

 as it seemed to us (for we watched him closely) , unaware of 

 any thing unusual being the matter. They remained likd 

 this till late in the afternoon, when wc saw the healthy bird 

 put his head on one side, and, looking inquisitively at his sick 

 comrade, proceed to stir him up with his beak, but without 

 making him move ; and on going out we found him to be dead. 

 To discover the cause of death a post-mortem was decided 



on ; and B and myself set to work at once, and found in 



the bird's stomach, which was much inflamed, the legs and 

 claws of a large Fowl, quite undigested, and probably the 

 cause of its decease. 



" The amusing part of the post-mortem was that the sur- 

 viving bird stood close by to see us cut up his brother, 

 and evidently with much pleasure ; for he eagerly watched us 

 slice off great lumps of meat, and was delighted when they 

 were thrown to him, gobbling them up in no time ; after a 

 good meal he stalked away, very well satisfied with the after- 

 noon's performance, apparenth^ thinking what a pity it was 

 he had not a brother dying every day." 



Ardea sumatrana. The Malay Purple Heron. 



Plentiful in the j heels and paddy-swamps in Perak, parti- 

 cularly during April, when I found them in great numbers 

 among the reeds of the large jheel near Saiyong ; as I waded 

 about I used to see them, with their long necks stretched out 

 and heads raised above the reeds, most intently watching my 

 movements. 



They were rather wary, though when flushed they generally 

 flew but a short distance, and settled on the upper branches 



