CHAPTER II 

 BIRD-NOTES 



IT is popularly supposed in England that nearly all 

 the birds of the tropical regions are brilliantly coloured 

 and either most unmelodious in their cries or else 

 entirely silent. It is certainly true that during the 

 heat of the day the jungle is a silent place, and it is 

 equally certain that the harsh shrieking of the gorgeous 

 Macaw and the metallic note of the brightly coloured 

 Barbet are anything but pleasing to the human ear. 

 However, it is never safe to generalize from insufficient 

 evidence, and further inquiry reveals the fact that in 

 any tropical area the number of dull-coloured, soberly 

 clad birds exceeds the number of brilliant species, 

 while every tropical land can boast its songsters which 

 rival, if they do not excel, those of the temperate 

 regions. 



In Borneo the Dayak omen-bird, Nan dak, Cittocinda 

 suavis, is a frequently heard and a most melodious 

 song-bird ; the Magpie-Robin, Copsychus saularis, also 

 sings sweetly ; the melody of the Bulbuls is far-famed. 

 The song of the Crested Bulbul, Trachycomus cristatus, 

 a species occurring in gardens and along the river- 

 banks of Sarawak, is, in my humble opinion, quite 

 unrivalled ; it is a richly bubbling, gurgling melody, 



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