17G MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



wild Quails, attracted by the " calling" of the decoy, try to get at 

 it, and, fluttering against the outside of the bars, break the thread, 

 set free the spring-net, and are caught. 



Dr. Jeedon says that in India all the birds thus caught are hens, 

 as are the decoys-: unfortunately I neglected to see if such was the 

 case in Perak ; but if so ; it conclusively proves that it is not sexual 

 desire, but their pugnacity, that is so fatal to them. The female 

 is the larger and by far the more handsome bird of the two, the 

 male wanting the deep-black throat and upper breast, and being 

 altogether less boldly marked. 



GrLAREOLA ORTENTALIS (Blyth.). 



The Swallow-Plover is very common during the seasons of mi- 

 gration, arriving at the same time as the Grolden Plover, Gharadrius 

 fulvus ; but I never met with it at other times of the year. During 

 March, and again in September and October, great numbers pass 

 over the island of Singapore ; but they are then so tame that it is 

 poor sport shooting them : often they squatted so closely that I 

 walked within a few yards before they would rise ; then they fre- 

 quently settled again after flying a short distance. Perhaps this 

 extraordinary tameness was owing to the fatigue occasioned by mi- 

 grating. I noticed that they were generally found in large flocks 

 on cultivated ground, and were particularly fond of ploughed land, 

 more especially if it was on a hillside. 



The vernal migration takes place early in the year ; in my note- 

 book is the following passage : — 



" Kuala Kangsa, Perak, 22nd February, 1877. — This afternoon I 

 paddled down the Perak river in a canoe to Kampong Saiyong, ac- 

 companied by H , on our way getting a Golden Plover out of 



a pair which were sitting on a sand-bank in the middle of the river. 



" A little further on, on another sand-bank, we saw an enormous 

 flock of birds, which every now and then rose with shrill cries, and 

 after flying a few yards settled again, squatting flat on the sand. 

 Not knowing what they were, we stalked them, and bagged six, 

 losing three more, which fell into the river and were swept awaj\ 



" At first I took them to be the European Pratincole, but now 

 see, as stated by Jerdon, that they differ from that species in hav- 

 ing: the tail less forked ; they must be migratine:. as on no former 



