144 JOURNAL, NATVRAL JUST. SOCIETY OF SI AM Vol. T. 



and on scratching, mud or dirt penetrated, poisoning tlie blood and in- 

 capacitating them. 



On the day of arrival we found the fresh tracks of elephant, 

 rhinoceros and tapir ; but it was surprising to find the black langnr 

 (P. femoralis) staying on the exposed ridges during such weather, when 

 even the gibbons were silenced, and also numerous small passerine 

 birds including flower-peckers, fantaii-flycatchers and babblers. A big 

 flock of hill partridges haunted the camp, and on the 2nd xlugust a green 

 •f- J''*'}'' (Cissa chinensis) was obtained, one of a party of five. On one 

 occasion when going to the Trig, station, for the daily dreary wait for 

 a break in the clouds, a large herd of pig were observed feeding within 

 20 yards of the ridge summit, all unconscious of our presence ; and so 

 they remained, for the guns had been sent in another direction to 

 secure langnr meat. 



It may be of interest to mention that wild pigs make nests, and 

 when first I struck one of these 1 took it to be the nest of some archaic 

 l)ird, but the coolies recognised it immediately as a pig's nest. Several 

 iiave been observed, entirely composed of sticks ranging from the size 

 of a finger to an inch in diameter, all havintr been bitten off from the 

 jungle around the nest. The ])ile is rather less than 3 metres broad 

 by 1 high, and the pig tunnels beneath the pile. Blanfurd mentions 

 that in India pigs make nests of grass, but in the evergreen jungle 

 there is little or no grass. 



During this year I came across another nest or shelter 

 which puzzled me considerably. At an elevation ot 850 metres on the 

 boundary, I found a rough shelter formed of leafy branches, thick end 

 uppermost and supported by a thin clump of small bamboos. Tlie 

 branches appeared to have been arranged methodically, and looking for 

 the mark of a knife, I found that the branches had been bitten and torn 

 off from the tree overhead, which was stripped of its smaller branches, 

 some of which had not fallen to the ground but lay withered in the forks 

 abov'e. A bear's claw marks were visible on the tree, so it is a point 

 for investigation as to whether bears form some soi't of shelter during 

 the rains. 



On the loth <lay of our sojourn in this inhospitable region the 

 clouds lifted for short periods, and on the 4th August the sun broke 

 through for 3 hours, enabling me to complete the woi-k on the buund- 

 arv. The following day the n^urn jdui'iiev was Cduimenccd in the 



