Birds in the Botanic Gardens, 
Singapore. 
It is a common remark of residents in Singapore that they 
never see any birds here except the one popularly called the 
black and white robin (Copsychus saularis). This however 
must be taken as due to want of observation, for birds here are 
very abundant and varied. It. is true that they are not 
on the whole as conspicuous as they would be were the country 
not so thickly wooded, so that they can, and do, conceal them- 
selves very effectually. One may traverse a jungle the whole 
day and hardly see or hear a bird, though a careful and quiet 
observer by remaining patiently on the watch in a suitable 
spot may make the acquaintance of a number of very charm- 
ing and interesting ones. Asin the case of the mammals, the 
early morning and late evening is the best time to watch the 
birds. Living in the Botanic Gardens with its patches of 
shrubbery, woods and lakes, I get an opportunity of seeing 
them when all is quiet, and as many rare and beautiful ones 
have from time to time visited the gardens, I think a few notes 
on their habits may not be uninteresting to bird-lovers. The 
Raptores are frequent visitors, and of these the large grey and white 
sea-eagle (Halietus leucogaster) is one of the most conspicuous, 
often passing over or resting in the trees on itsreturn from a 
day’s fishing in the harbour. For many years one nested in 
the garden jungle and the young ones could often be seen 
moving about the garden when all was quiet. The nest, a huge 
mass of sticks, was placed in the upper branches of a big tree 
and quite inaccessible from the ground. Eventually it was blown 
down and the bird did not replace it. During the middle of 
the day when the coolies were away, and no one about, the 
birds used to fish in the lakes, and I several times found the 
remains of large catfish lying on the paths, fragments of their 
midday meal. On one occasion J found a portion of a cuttle-fish 
lying in the garden-jungle, which must have been brought to 
feed the young, from the sea, a distance of nearly four miles 
at least. The sea-eagle is very abundant in the harbour and 
