SMITHSONIAN EXri.( JRATIONS, I927 



43 



ways to withstand the yearly desiccation. Some aestivate in damp 

 soil for as long a time as four months. A regular form of fishing in 

 Siam is to dig in a dried-up marsh to the depth of two or three feet, 

 where many fish called " serpent-heads " are to l)e found. These are 

 very good to eat. The climbing perch Aiiabas is the most remarkable 

 of all the aestivators ; it is always popular in the markets, being sold 



Fig. 43. — A very effective lizard-trap invented by the Siamese natives. It 

 consists of a pliable splinter of bamboo about 28 inclies in length in the 

 form of a bow with a short cylindrical section left on one end. Through 

 two small holes pierced in this section goes a running noose of stout cord. 

 The cord is fastened to a wooden sliver, the point of wliich rests in a de- 

 pression at the center of the bow. When the noose is drawn out and the 

 trap is ready, the bow is under considerable tension, so that it is sprung at 

 the least movement of tlie iui\\ar\- lizard. 



alive in baskets which are merely kept moist. This fish can climb 

 steep canal banks l)y means of its tail and the large pectoral fins. It 

 goes overland from one body of water to another and travels as fast 

 as a man walking slowly. 



During the year Dr. Smith collected about 200 species of l)irds, 

 18 of them being woodpeckers. One of the most daintily colored 

 of all Asiatic birds is the Jambu frtiit pigeon. The anterior half 



