VII.] BIRDS OF THE ISLAND. 149 



seasons to be brought from the hills by coolies, an affair necessitating 

 much labour, as the spring is five miles distant. In the vicinity 

 of the town large quantities of rice are grown, the low-lying land 

 lending itself especially to its cultivation, and an elaborate system 

 of irrigation exists, the water-supply being drawn from a small 

 river, the mouth of which is close to the town. Coffee is cul- 

 tivated in the hills, but it is of poor quality, and fetches less 

 than half the price of that grown in Northern Celebes. 



Birds were numerous in the fruit gardens in and around Bima, 

 and placed as Sumbawa is on the outskn-ts of the Austro-Malayan 

 sub-region, it was interesting to note the mingling of the Indian 

 and Australian forms. The Ashy Tit (Parus cinercus), which has 

 extended as far eastward as Mores, was one of the first birds that 

 attracted my attention ; its clear and unmistakable note almost 

 exactly resembling that of our own Great Tit. A small wood- 

 pecker {Yungipicus grandis, Hargitt) — another alien genus in this 

 region — was far less common. Side by side with these Indian 

 forms occurred other genera of Australian origin, — Pachycephala, 

 Stigmatops, Geoffroyus, and a beautiful brush-tongued lory {Triclio- 

 glossus forsteni), which seems to be peculiar to the island. Our bag 

 at the end of a long day contained over sixty specimens, and we 

 sat up skinning them until it was nearly daybreak, for in such a 

 climate the heat admits of no delay in these matters. Among 

 them was a Zosterojjs new to science, with a brownish head and 

 the rest of the body a pretty golden yellow.-^ 



The most productive shooting-ground was in the neighbourhood 

 of a large cemetery at the back of the town. The tombstones were 

 for the most part smooth and club-shaped, and were placed at the 

 head and foot of the grave, the outline of the latter being marked 

 by pebbles. Three tombs however — those of the old Sultans of 

 Bima — were conspicuous among the rest ; large oven-shaped 

 erections of red brick covered with plaster. A low entrance with 

 stone lintels deeply carved with inscriptions led into a little 

 1 Z. sunibavensis. Vide " Proc. Zoolog. Soc." 1885, p. 501. 



