14 MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



in the jungles of the interior, and about the roads and gardens of 

 the Settlements, though certainly most plentiful in the neigbour- 

 hood of civilization. It is a most pugnacious bird ; and I have 

 seen them fighting together so determinedly as to allow themselves 

 almost to be caught before they would separate. They breed 

 during April and May. 



In my note-book is : — 



" Kuala Kangsa, Perak, 23rd March, 1877. To-day I got two 

 new birds — that is, new to my collection — one of them a Magpie- 

 Robiu. When on the ground it reminded me forcibly of our 

 English Magpie in miniature, the perky way it hopped along, 

 flitting up its tail, bending back its head, and every now and then 

 giving a pert bow, together with its black-and-white plumage, 

 jnade the resemblance very noticeable." 



The young have their plumage much mottled with rufous 

 brown. The colours of the male are much darker than those of 

 the female. 



Cercotrichas macrura (Gin). The Shania. 



Justly celebrated for its vocal powers ; is found, though not 

 plentifully, throughout the Straits. I got several specimens at 

 Malacca and one at Tanglin, Singapore. 



Orthotomus ruficeps (Less.). The Tailorbird. 



Common throughout the Straits. I shot it in Perak, also 

 frequently saw it about the gardens in Singapore. It is a lively 

 little bird, continually on the move, hopping from twig to twig, 

 and uttering its loud shrill notes. 



This Tailorbird makes the same ingeniously constructed nest 

 as the others of its kind. One of these, which I have before me, 

 consists of a large leaf about 10 inches in length, of which the 

 outer edges are drawn together and sewn with regular stitches, 

 with what appear to be threads of tow or cocoa-nut fibre, pro- 

 bably the latter. A bag is thus formed ; and its lower end is 

 filled with fine bents and lined with fragments of cotton, making 

 a soft receptacle for the eggs. A male shot at Tanglin, Singapore, 

 on 6th September, 1879, was 5 inches in length, tarsus f ; beak 

 flesh-colour below, dusky above, from gape to tip ^ ; irides clear 

 pal© brown, head and tail rich chestnut j beneath silky white, 



