198 THE MALAY PROVINCE 



seeks its food only in the mornings and evenings, spending the night on a tree, 

 but resting during the day on a spot about 6 or 8 yards in diameter, which 

 is kept scrupulously clear of plants, dead leaves, and other rubbish. The hen makes 

 no such clear space, and seems to wander about the forest without any fixed abode. 

 Pea-fowl, likewise an exclusively Oriental group, are represented in many parts of 

 the Malay Peninsula, as well as in Java and Sumatra, by the Burmese Pavo 

 muticus, a species characterised by the feathers of the crest being webbed to the 

 bases of their shafts. Equally characteristic of, and restricted to, the Oriental 

 region are the beautiful peacock-pheasants, which resemble the pea-fowl in their 

 general habits, and have the same way of extending their tails like fans. The 

 grey peacock-pheasant (Polyplectrum chinquis), ranging from Sikhim to Mergui, 

 is mainly brown in colour with glossy, green and purple eye-spots on the tail, one 

 on each side of each feather. 



The group of long-tailed pigeons is peculiar to south-eastern 

 Asia and Polynesia, and is somewhat closely allied to the 

 wood-pigeon. They are all slender in shape, with long graduated tails. The 

 small Malay dove (Geopelia striata), which ranges from Tenasserim and Siam 

 through the Austro-Malay Islands, may be taken as an example of the 

 group. Another group, the bronze-winged doves, likewise range through 

 the Malay Archipelago into the Australian area. Among these the golden 

 green Chalcophaps indica, a species about the size of a turtle-dove, occurs in the 

 Himalaya and certain parts of peninsular India, as well as in Ceylon, the Andamans, 

 and Nicobars, but is most common in the Malay Peninsula and Islands, whence 

 its range extends as far as New Guinea. The fruit-pigeons, again, characterised 

 by the longish beak, dilatable at the base, in order to permit of large fruits being 

 swallowed whole, are also well represented in the Malay area, the most note- 

 worthy kind being, perhaps, the nutmeg-pigeon (Carpophaga ainea). The green 

 pigeons include, among others, the genus Treron, of which the two species, T. 

 nipalensis and T. nasica, are found in the present area, the former ranging into north- 

 eastern India. These pigeons are distinguished by the fairly strong beak, which 

 is thickened and bent into a hook at the tip. 



Herons and Several handsome species of the heron tribe are met with in the 



storks. countries east of the Bay of Bengal, among them being the large 

 Sumatran heron (Ardea sumatrana), whose habitat extends from Tenasserim to 

 Australia. This bird is remarkable on account of confining its wanderings to the 

 seashore and the mouths of large rivers where, when the tide ebbs, it may be seen 

 stalking about in search of food, which consists of small fishes and crustaceans, 

 while as the tide comes in it perches on the neighbouring mangrove-trees. The 

 Indian cattle-egret (Bubulcus coromandus), ranging from India and Ceylon to 

 Korea in the north-east, and the Moluccas in the south-east, is remarkable on 

 account of its habits. It breeds in colonies, one nest close to another ; and seldom 

 frequents swamps, after the manner of most of its relatives, but is a constant 

 companion of buffaloes and other cattle, sitting on their backs, and feeding on the 

 insects to be found there. The Indian white-necked stork (Dissura episcopus), 

 a species considerably smaller than the white stork, has the plumage black with a 

 coppery gloss, except the hinder part of the back and tail, which are white. The 



