32 JOURNAL, NATUBAL HIST. SOCIETY OF SI AM. Vol. I. 



"^ Bi-ahminy Kite ( llaliastur indas ). Tlie tiny Blaok-legged Falcon^^t 

 -f ( Microhierax fiingiUarias ) is fairly distributed, and the massive 

 ~l~ Crested Serpen t-En<^le ( Spilornis cheela) may be found in the more 



isolated patches of cultivation. 



Camping c; the big river the most i.oticeable bird by day is- 

 "^ the Pied Kingfislier ( Oerifle varia ) which is most common ; and at 



night and early morning the Crow Pheasants ( Centropiis sinensis, -f" 



Siamese Ijfl ll 1?1 ) betray their presence b}'' hoO't'''.g in unison. The- 

 country people state that they call the time, or " watches," regularly 

 throughout the night or when the tide rises. The Indian Koel 



-f ( Miidijnamis Jionorafa, Siamese Mf] m IV1Q1 ) is another common bird 

 frequentl}' heard. Among Passerine bird;-, the gorgeous Black-headed 

 Oriole ( Oriolus vielaiw-ephalus ) is one of the most noticeable, both on 

 account of its brilliant yellow phimage and its fine whistling note. 

 r The Magpie-Robin ( Copsydms saularis ) and the Shama ( Cittocinda 

 macnira ) occur everywhere — the latter most frequently in bamboo 

 jungle bordering oti cultivation. 



Snakes I took little note of, beyond the fact that the black 

 Cobra is not nearly so common as I had found it in the swamps south 

 ofl^rachin. When slieltering one day in a farmer's house, he showed 

 me the dried fat and various other internal parts of cobras, some for 

 use as external and others as internal remedies for cobra bite. This 

 is interesting, in that tlie people of the New Forest in England believe 

 that, for the bite of a vi{>er, the best remedy is to split the 

 creature open and applv its fat. Speaking of remedies for cobra 

 bite, reminds me that the country people place faith in another remed}^ 

 viz., human excrement, no matter whose, mixed with the leaves of 



some herb, the Siamese name of which is " Phak b>-ing" (UniJ-3)- Part 



of the mess is taken internall}'", pi-esuniably as an emetic, and the re- 

 mainder placed on the wound, when "perhaps the patient will survive.''^ 

 In 1909 ni}' work lay south of Fetchaburi. The paddy plains are 

 of less extent, and frequently the bunds are planted thickl}^ with Sugar- 

 Palm trt*es. A great deal of jungle is intermixed with the cultivation, 

 and the fruit gardens are tangled and ' densely overgrown, the ground 

 beneath being frequently carpeted with pineapple plants. Such 

 country is. of course, most suitable for the smaller birds, which abound, 

 and in addition to those already mentioned, the Siamese Laughing- 



