Malayan Ornithology. 375 



After an intensely hot ride of several hours on elephants^ we 

 reached our destination, a settlement of about half-a-dozen 

 huts occupied by Chinese miners, who received us civilly, but 

 were extremely anxious lest we should enter the workings with 

 our boots on, or touch any of the burning joss-sticks, little 

 smouldering tapers lit to propitiate the good or keep off the 

 evil spirits. These miners, being exceedingly superstitious, 

 imagine the ground to be peopled with demons who have 

 the poAver of rendering the metal scarce or otherwise. Any 

 body entering a mine with his boots on is supposed to give 

 such offence to the spirits that the ground ceases to yield 

 ore, and becomes worthless, — a strange superstition, the origin 

 of which I was unable to find out. 



These Salak mines had been "worked in former years j but 

 when the disturbances broke out in Perak the Malays burned 

 the shanties, and the miners fled. The old workings had filled 

 with water, forming several small ponds, over which were 

 flying some birds of the Swift-tribe, there were twenty or 

 thirty of them flying backwards and forwards over the pools, 

 at one moment dipping suddenly down and just breaking the 

 surface of the Avater, then rising high into the air, uttering a 

 loud twittering note. Every now and then they deserted the 

 ponds, and settled along the bare upper branches of an enor- 

 mous dead forest-tree Avhicli stood near. They were too high 

 up for me to ascertain as a fact that they Avere nesting ; but 

 probably such was the case, and the birds which I saAV squat- 

 ting along the bare limbs of the tree were in all probability 

 sitting on their nests — small, clay, cup-shaped structures, 

 usually, I believe, built on the upper horizontal branches of 

 high trees. 



"While on the tree the SAvifts were far out of gun-shot ; but 

 by waiting till they returned to the water I secured two or 

 three specimens ; and the following is a description of one of 

 them : — It differs from D, coronatus, the Indian species, in 

 being much smaller, also the tail does not project beyond the 

 tips of the wings. Length from beak to end of tail 8 inches ; 

 irides dark broAvn; legs and feet dull purple; head, crest, 

 upper parts, Avings, and tail bright metallic bluish-green, ex- 



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