214 A RAIL NEW TO THE MALAY PENINSULA. 
The Ruddy Crake (Limnobaenus fuscus) which occurs regular- 
ly in the Malay Peninsula, is closely alhed to and somewhat 
similar to Elwes’ Crake but the latter may be easily distinguished 
by the grey colour of the head, neck and breast, the Ruddy Crake 
being uniformly rufous. 
There is, however, a slight possibility of a mistake having been. 
made in attaching the original label, as a former Curator of the 
Raffles Museum obtained several specimens of birds and insects: 
from the Hastern Himalayas and the Johore label may have been 
tied in error to one of this collection. There is no evidence to 
support this theory, and considering the habits of Rails there is. 
nothing at all surprising in the bird having been found in Johore. 
The Indian records were made in the summer and our specimen. 
may have migrated here for the winter. 
It would, of course, be more satisfactory if this record could 
be supported by the capture of another specimen in the Malay 
Peninsula. 
J. C. Mouton. 
A Tiger at Sea. 
Instances of Tigers swimming across wide rivers or narrow 
straits are common enough. ‘Tigers are still found occasionally 
on the island of Singapore where they have arrived from Johore 
after a swim of one to two miles across the Straits. The following 
note however of a much longer swim is perhaps worthy of record. 
Mr. G. O. Dorrity of Trengganu, to whom I am indebted for 
the information, obtained the story from an old Malay fisherman 
in Kelantan some eight years ago. The local fishing fleet was 
proceeding out to the fishing orounds one night from the coast of 
Kelantan when a dark object. was observed moving about on the 
surface of the water. The position given was midway between. 
the Perhentian Islands and the mainland, i.e. about five miles 
from the mainland; the total distance between the mainland and 
the nearest island of the group is eleven miles. On a closer in- 
spection the object was discovered to. be a full grown tiger and 
evidently in some distress. A pukat (seine-net) was thrown over 
it and the animal, entangled in the mesh, was towed behind a boat 
until drowned. 
It seems impossible to credit this tiger with the deliberate 
intention of swimming out ten miles to a small group of islands. 
which he could hardly see from the mainland. Probably he was 
accidentally swept out to sea when attempting perhaps to cross a 
river at the mouth. 
J. C. Mouton. 
Jour. Straits Branch 
