Malayan Ornithology. 519 



Platysmurus leucopterus, Temm. 



On the 8th August 1877 I shot a pair of these birds near 

 Bukit Kopong, on the Moar river. Their very loud, clear 

 notes attracted my attention. At the time I was rather 

 puzzled as to their species : their red eyes and the tuft at the 

 base of the beak reminded me of the Drongo Shrikes, while 

 the white markings of the wings gave them somewhat the 

 appearance of exaggerated Magpie-robins, I also saw two 

 which Mr. Davison^s collector had shot in Johore. 



Calgrnis chalybeius, Horsf. 



This small Myna is very plentiful throughout the west of 

 the peninsula ; I obtained it in Perak and Malacca, and found 

 it in Singapore during April and May. 



Late in September 1879, with three friends, I landed on 

 Pulo Nongsa to shoot pigeons, which were said to be plen- 

 tiful there. None of the large black and white Carpophaga 

 bicolor were even seen ; but we got several of the common 

 green kind [Osmotre^'on vernans) ; and the reports of our guns 

 put up enormous flocks, regular clouds, of these Mynas : 

 they had collected to roost among the bushes, with which 

 the middle of the island was covered. 



Frightened by our shots, they swept backwards and for- 

 wards across the island, skimming over the trees at a great 

 pace ; and once passing near, I fired into the thick of them, 

 killing several, all in the uniform metallic-green plumage. 



The following is from my notes : — 



''Tangliu, Singapore, 1st April, 1879. When we were 

 quartered here more than a year ago, the Spotless Starlings, 

 as we call them, used to congregate in great numbers on the 

 upper limbs of an enormous tree, dead and quite bare of all 

 foliage, which stood a few hundred yards from our mess; 

 this afternoon I found them as numerous there as formerly, 

 and watched them building their nests, carrying straw and 

 other soft materials into the holes in the upper parts of the 

 tree-trunks, far out of reach, the lowest nest being at least a 

 hundred feet from the ground, and the tree as smooth and 

 branchless as the mast of a ship. 



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