Birds observed in the Island of Negros. 95 



the centre of which is little known even now. It appears to be 

 inhabited by a small race of Negroes, called Negritos, from 

 whom the island derives its name. 



Mr. L. Layard writes — "Judging from my remembrance of 

 Table Mountain, I should say that the range behind the Hacienda 

 and the Koun Loun volcano, must be nearly 5000 feet high. 

 Their tops are very rugged and covered with trees ; and thej'^ 

 look very grand after a shower, when long streaks of cloud are 

 caught halfway up them, and detached patches are scattered 

 along their slopes, clinging to the trees.^^ 



These forests abound with cabinet- woods of great beauty and 

 of the finest quality. The trees attain a vast height; " most of 

 them have huge buttresses on each side, and then an immense 

 trunk, rising, some of them, for upwards of 100 feet without 

 a branch, and as round and as straight as an arrow. It is 

 useless to fire at anything in the heads of these giants, unless 

 with buck-shot. I was a long while under a flock of the large 

 Hornbill {Buceros hydrocorax?) ; but it was of no use to fire at 

 them. Most of the trees were covered with parasitic orchids, 

 creepers, and climbing ferns of all descriptions ; and the whole 

 forest was alive with gay Parrots, Hornbills, gaudy red Wood- 

 peckers, and butterflies of every hue. Several sorts of Pigeon 

 were flying about ; and we heard noises that the guide said were 

 caused by a peculiar monkey, but we did not see any of them. 

 There were lots of small dark-blue Swallows flitting about under 

 the trees in the partially cleared places, which I had not seen 

 elsewhere. On the outside the underwood had been cut down, 

 and in its stead were the bright green leaves of the banana 

 (hemp) plant standing in rows.^^ 



The Parrots to which he alludes he afterwards obtained, and 

 describes as " a large green Parrot, w^ith a blue patch above the 

 root of the tail, and a large red beak, out of which I took good 

 care to keep my fingers. ^^ This is probably either Tanygnathus 

 muelleri (Temm.) or else a new species. T. muelleri has been 

 doubtfully stated to occur in the southern Philippines (conf. O. 

 Finsch, Pap. ii. p. 360). 



From the forest-clad mountains numerous rivers, abounding in 

 fish and crocodiles, descend to the sea, which equally swarms 



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