30 



A f»>rtni_ijht's cnlloctin>;- on ilio Larut Hills in Mareli was productive 

 of a small collertion of manimals, l>ir(ls. reptilos and invertebrates. 

 In a moruiug'.s visit to B\il<it Gantaiij^ a specimen of the Idackwing 

 kite {Ela)iu!> caentleus), Avitli nest and egg, was secured. A specimen 

 of a new flying-sqnin-el was procured at the Tea Gardens by Mr. 

 W. Boomgardt. On being sent to Mr. Oldfield Thomas of the British 

 Museum for identification, this proved to be a specimen of Pteromys 

 punctata, of which only one has before been ol)tained: the type in the 

 British Museum, wliich, I think, was procured in Malacca. A 

 specimen of the grey musk shrew (Crocidiira caerulea), not before 

 represente<l in the collection, and a hill rat (Mus vociferans), new to 

 Perak. were other notable additions. 



A uumV>er of young adjutant, or marabout-storks {Leptoptiluii 

 jarauicus), were purchased from a Malay in April, some dozen or so 

 nests having been destroyed by a strong wind in the neighbourhood of 

 Bagan Seiui. One of these birds was killed and mounted at the time 

 of purchase, and another some two or three months later, whilst the 

 remainder are still at large in the Museum grounds. They will even- 

 tually form an instructive life-history group of this remarkable genus 

 of birds. 



A native collector by the name of Alang Sagab was employed in 

 the neighbourhood of Kota Lama during the months of May, June and 

 July, and a large collection of land mollusca, araehnida, lepidoptera, 

 coleoptei-a, (jrnithoptera, rliynchota, chilopoda and diplopoda was the 

 result. Most of the coleoptera have kindly been examined and identified 

 by Mr. Robinson of the Selangor Miiseum, and a selection from the 

 rest of the collection has been sent to the British Museum for this 

 purpose. 



Word was received in January of the discovery of elephant remains 

 at Ulu Briah, but on visiting the spot they were found to be those of 

 the living race (Elephas indicun), and in an advanced state of decay. 

 A small selection of the l»etter presei-ved bones was made, however. 



2. BOTANT. 



Early in the year the herltarium cabinets wei'e thoroughly over- 

 hauled, and the damage done by white ants to the panelling and backs 

 was repaired. In this connection I am glad to report the complete 

 success of the experiment Cdescribed in my last report) to frustrate 

 the attacks of the ubiquitous termites. Not a single instance of attack 

 has to l>e recorded, although signs of unsuccessful attempts by the 

 little pests were evident. 



Ten sheets of botanical specimens were received late in the year 

 from the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta. These, with those received 

 during 1P04. have been mounted, labelled and incorporated in the 

 herbarium. 



