288 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



I usually shot the birds, and my hunter always 

 skinned them, noting the locality of each, its sex, and 

 as nearly as possible the color of its eyes. The gi-eat- 

 est annoyance that troubles the collector of birds in 

 the tropics is caused by the swarms of small ants that 

 fill every conceivable place. If a bird is shot and 

 laid down on the ground for half an hour, it will al- 

 most sui'ely be injured so much by these insects that 

 it will not be worth skinning. There is no certain 

 means of keeping them away altogether, except by 

 completely isolating a place with water, which is 

 usually done by putting small basins under each leg 

 of a table, but before one is aware of it, something 

 is sure to be placed so as to touch the table, and thus 

 form a bridge for these omnivorous pests to cross 

 over and continue their work of destruction. As 

 soon as the birds are brought in they are hung up 

 by a thread or piece of small t^\ane. After the 

 skins are taken off, they are thoroughly poisoned 

 with arsenic and camj^hor, mixed with water to the 

 consistency of cream. Each is then filled with the 

 cotton from the cotton- wood tree, until it has exactly 

 the size of the bird. They are then spread in the 

 sun on a bamboo frame, which is suspended by 

 twines fastened at its corners. After they have be- 

 come thoroughly dried, they are kept in a tight tin 

 box mth large pieces of gum-camphor, and even then 

 they must be looked after every day or two, for they 

 are still liable to be injured by the ants, which are 

 particularly fond of gna"s^dng at the base of the bill 

 and around the eyes. During the rainy season it is 

 extremely difficult to dry the skins properly, there is 



