chap, x.] CATTLE— BIRDS. 237 



with prickly Cacti and a leafless Euphorbia, but the 

 country being so highly cultivated there was not much 

 room for indigenous vegetation, except upon the sea-beach. 

 We saw plenty of the fine race of domestic cattle descended 

 from the Bos banteng of Java, driven by half-naked boys, 

 or tethered in pasture-grounds. They are large and hand- 

 some animals, of a light brown colour, with white legs, 

 and a conspicuous oval patch behind of the same colour. 

 Wild cattle of the same race are said to be still found 

 in the mountains. In so well-cultivated a country it was 

 not to be expected that I could do much in natural history, 

 and my ignorance of how important a locality this was 

 for the elucidation of the geographical distribution of 

 animals, caused me to neglect obtaining some specimens 

 which I never met with again. One of these was a weaver 

 bird with a bright yellow head, which built its bottle- 

 shaped nests by dozens on some trees near the beach. 

 It was the Ploceus hypoxantha, a native of Java ; and 

 here, at the extreme limits of its range westerly. I shot 

 and preserved specimens of a wagtail-thrush, an oriole, 

 and some starlings, all species found in Java, and some 

 of them peculiar to that island. I also obtained some 

 beautiful butterflies, richly marked with black and orange 

 on a white ground, and which were the most abundant 

 insects in the country lanes. Among these was a new 

 species, which I have named Pieris tamar. 



