1884.] birds' -NKST CAVES OF BORNEO. 533 



For this purpose I sj)ent two days in the oaves of Gomanton, a 

 high limestone cHff situate twelve miles inland from the head of 

 Sandakan Bay; and having heen successful, I send herewith specimens 

 of the hird, its nest, and eggs, and of the fungus said to be used 

 in the construction of the nest. 



Before starting for the caves, I inquired what it was generally 

 thought the nests were made from, and was told that it was probably 

 a gum or resin from some of the forest-trees, and that the statement, 

 so often repeated in popular works on natural history, that the birds 

 gather a seaweed for the purpose, was extremely improbable — the 

 caves producing the largest quantity of nests being generally situated 

 a considerable distance inland : besides that round Sandakan Bay 

 tiiere is a marked absence of seaweed, which does not grow in any 

 quantity at the various points which I touched at. 



On the 19th of March, at half-past 10 o'clock a.m., together with 

 a gentleman in the employ of the British North-Borneo Company, 

 1 left the flourishing little town of Elopura, at the entrance of 

 Sandakan Bay, for the Sapugaya River, which flows into this Bay 

 about 8 miles below the town. Our party was composed of two 

 Englishmen (W. and self), one Chinese cook, five I\Ialays,eight Sulus, 

 a Buludupi, and my Japanese collector, eighteen in all, representing 

 six different languages, the conversation between these different 

 specimens of Homo sapiens being carried on in Malaj-. Our mode of 

 conveyance was a steam-launch, having in tow a large boat to which 

 we were to transfer ourselves when the river grew too shallow to proceed 

 further in the launch. We reached the mouth of the Sapngava at 

 noon. Flying about the Bay were a number of Frigate Birds and a 

 few birds of prey. The river preseiited the usual features of all 

 North-Bornean scenery : the land at the mouth and for several miles 

 each side was covered with a Mangrove swamp ; further up the Nipas 

 replace the Mangroves, until, where the river-banks rise above the 

 reach of the tide, the true forest extends down to the water's edo-e. 

 Curlews, Kingfishers, and Sandpipers flew along ahead of us. 



Making the launch fast to the landing-stage of a coffee and 

 sugar plantation, we took to our rowing-boat, as beyond the planta- 

 tion further navigation in the steam-launch is unsafe ; after rowino- 

 for some hours our sleeping-place for the night was reached. This 

 was a very primitive affair, being a long narrow shed thatched with 

 altaps made from the Nipa leaf, and raised some six feet from the 

 ground on posts, the floor being composed of unbarked sticks ten 

 feet long; over this we spread a large india-rubber (without which 

 no one should travel), and made ourselves as comfortable as possible 

 under the circumstances. I had brought my mosquito-net, but did 



from those wbicb are given by ordinary mucin ; but these differences were not 

 great enough to weaken the conclusion that the nest is really composed of mucu8 

 secreted by the loeculiar glands, superficially described by Sir Everard Home 

 as present in the bird which builds the nest. It would be very interesting to 

 obtain these birds in living condition, so that one might study the mechanism 

 of the secretion of such a relatively enormous mass of material as well as examine 

 the constituents of the secretion taken quite fresh. 



