Birds. 4945 



walking they lift up their feet very high, and set up their backs, something like 

 Guinea fowls; they frequently make a loud noise, like the screech of a chicken when 

 caught; they are very pugnacious, and fight with great fury by jumping upon one 

 another's backs, and scratching with their long strong claws. Their food principally 

 consists of seeds and insects ; the eggs are of a fine dark cream colour and of a very 

 large size, three of them weighing nearly as much as a full-grown bird. According to 

 the account given by the Malays, each bird lays about eight or ten eggs at each time 

 of breeding, and their nests are merely large heaps of shells and rubbish, deposited 

 over the sandy soil, in which the eggs are buried to the depth of about eighteen inches. 

 Since receiving this account, however, we have had an opportunity of inspecting a 

 very large and perfect nest or breeding hill, and found it to be about twenty feet in 

 diameter, and composed of sand, earth and sticks ; it was close to the beach, just within 

 the jungle, and scarcely above high-water mark, and appeared to have been used for 

 many years. The boatmen seemed to have no clew to what part of the hillock con- 

 tained eggs, but said that they were never without some when frequented at all ; they 

 sought for nearly half an hour in vain before they found one, and then they found 

 about a dozen together; they were buried at a depth of from one to three feet in an 

 upright position, and the ground about them was astonishingly hard. The eggs thus 

 deposited are left to be hatched by the heat of the sun, and this, the Malays assert, 

 requires between three and four months to complete : those obtained from this heap 

 were brought home and buried in a box of sand, and a month or two afterwards it was 

 discovered that they were all hatched, but that, from neglecting to place them in a 

 proper (i. e. probably an upright) position, the chicks could not get up through the 

 sand, and had all perished. When hatched the chicks are almost entirely fledged, 

 even the long quills being, as the Malays say, " needled." When first dug out, some 

 of the eggs had lost much of their outer colour, which appeared to have scaled off, 

 leaving only a white chalky shell. On a former occasion some eggs were brought by 

 the natives, and were buried in a box of sand and exposed to the weather: at the end of 

 about three weeks one of the chicks was hatched ; a Malay, who saw it emerge, said 

 that it just shook off the sand and ran away so fast that it was with difficulty caught; 

 it then appeared to be nearly half-grown, and from the first fed itself without hesitation, 

 scratching and turning up the sand like an old bird. Two more afterwards emerged in 

 the same state. Their eggs are held in such high estimation as food, both by natives 

 and Europeans, that one cannot but fear that these interesting birds, though now so 

 abundant, will ere long become scarce. — Contributions to the Natural History of Labuan. 



Late Stay of Swallows and Martins in 1856. — I perceive that at p. 3753 of the 

 'Zoologist,' your correspondent, Mr. W. C. Hewitson, remarks, " 1 have never before 

 L, this year had the pleasure of seeing swallows in November," and he goes on to record 

 > the occurrence of four house-martins at Oatlands on the 21st of November, 1852. I 

 1 have a still more remarkable fact to relate : yesterday (December 6) there were several 

 r i chimney-swallows flying about my house; the previous night there had been a slight 

 sprinkling of snow in the adjoining country. On the 23rd of November I left the 

 neighbourhood of Uckfield, in Sussex, and at that time there were several house- 

 martins skimming about in front of the house, though the weather was anything but 

 warm. — Edward Vernon Harcourt ; Hastings, December 7, 1855. 



Late Appearance of the Swallow Tribe. — I observed up to Wednesday last, in this 

 district, extending as far as Helston, flocks of house-martins flying about, and hawking 

 vigorously for insects. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, December 1, 1855. 

 XIV. D 



