IN JAVA, 



115 



During the rainy season the thunder of slopes laden with 

 forest trees and shrubs craahiiig down, often for hundreds of 

 feet into tlie valleys, was a dtiily sound, which impressed me 

 with the supreme potency of rain as an agent in planing down 

 tlie mountains and widening the valleys. I have often been 

 astonisbed at the rapicHty «'ith which even a small stream will 

 carry away the dehrh of a great landslip. When a heavy 

 gale accompanies continued rains, the fall of giant trees on 

 the narrowetl ridges of moimtains, is very often the cause of 

 extensive landslips into both the adjacent valleys, which 

 lowers down by very perceptible degrees their barrier ridges. 



Among the more interesting zoological objects of this 

 district added to my collection, were the Siphia hanjuims, 

 a fairy fly-catcher of a beautiful azure blue, whose nest, a 

 thing of beauty like itself, I found cunningly concealed and 

 protected by the curled edges of a Biihis leaf and containing 

 a delicate, pure white egg dotted over with brownish-red spots ; 

 a sea-green magpie (Cism thuiass^ma), with bro^Ti wings, coral 

 beak and legs; and a handsome shrike (LameUus leucogram- 

 niicM«), known only from Java. Civet-cats were very abundant ; 

 and the nocturnal scaly anteater or pangolin (Mmm) was 

 pretty often captured in the evening, while clumsily climbing 

 on the trees, licking up with amazing rapidity streams of 

 ants, which are its sole food — an interesting form especially 

 t^ the embryologist and the genealogist, who find in its 

 structures surviving "marks of ancientness," which have 

 greatly belped to unravel the mammalian pedigree. 



Another slow prowler, the Mijdaus melkeps^ ygtj often made 

 my evening hours quite unbearable by the intensely offensive 

 odour with wkich, even in its most inoffenBive frame of mind, 

 it hedged its crepuscular walks for at least a mile round. It 

 was no use to try to frighten it away, for if its equanimity were 

 disturbed it did not haste to his lair as one could have desired. 

 It thickened, instead, the very air with a malignant scent that 

 clung to one's garments, furniture and food for weeks. Hors- 

 fieid has stated that it is exclusively confined to mountains 

 rising over 7000 feet, " and that on these it occurs \dth the 

 regularity of some plants extending from one end of the island 

 to other on the numerous disconnected summits," Its altitu* 

 dinal distribution is, however, not nearly so restricted as here 



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