MALAYAN OTtNITITOLOGY. 19 



flocks often occupying the same clump of trees. 



Eulabes javanensts (Osb.). The Hill-Myna. 



This Myna is found in Perak, and in all the Straits Settlements ; 

 the Malay name for it is an imitation of the peculiar notes it utters. 



" Kuala Kangsa, Perak, 1st May, 1877. Near camp I noticed 

 six large dark-coloured birds sitting on a conspicuous tree, utter- 

 ing loud, clear cries ; so, creeping quietly through the jungle, I got 

 within range and shot one. It proved to be a Hill-Myna in its 

 colours and markings very like but larger than Gracula religiosa, 

 Horsfield." 



Ploceus baya (Blyth.). The Weaver-bird. 



Plentiful on Pulau Penang and the mainland ; but I rarely saw 

 it on the island of Singapore. In Perak it is very common, 

 breeding from February to June, hanging its long, bottle- shaped 

 nest to the upper branches of trees, generally selecting one 

 standing in some isolated position, such as the middle of a paddy- 

 swamp. I noticed that, as a rule, they built in colonies ; and 

 there was one near Kuala Kangsa where over twenty nests hung, 

 like huge pears, from a single tree standing alone in an open 

 swamp, through which one had to wade knee-deep before the 

 nesting-place could be reached. 



On May 18, the birds were hard at work building ; and stand- 

 ing motionless beneath the tree, I watched them for a long 

 time. One nest, within fifteen or twenty feet of where I 

 stood, appeared to be almost finished, even to the long, tubular 

 entrance; and I faney the lien must bave seen sitting inside, as 

 I did not see her at all, . though the male worked away most 

 industriously, weaving long pliant stems of grass into the body of 

 the nest. 



Of this colony quite two thirds of the nests were of the bottle- 

 shape, the remainder exactly like inverted baskets, suspended 

 handle downwards. I cannot help thinking that these basket- 

 shaped structures are simply unfinished nests, perhaps the 

 " failures " of young birds new to the work, which have been 

 rejected as being in some way unsuitable, as they only require the 

 open space on one side of the handle to be filled in (as the reposi- 

 tory for the eggs) to make them complete. That they are built 



