FASCICULI MALATENSES 
87 
on the same principle, partly by adopting unusual words (some of which may 
belong to an aboriginal language), and partly by substituting descriptive or 
imitative terms for those in common use ; chu &, 1 2 the substitute for kayu (wood) 
in the camphor language, may possibly be no more than a different way of 
transliterating the sound I have rendered chebweb. 
Omens and Lucky Birds 
All those animals which must not be named at sea are considered at 
Patani to be unlucky omens when met as the fishermen are starting ; and a 
Buddhist monk is more unlucky than any of them. The monitor lizard is 
also especially unlucky, and it is a very bad omen to hear the cry of a house 
gecko. In order to vitiate a bad omen, the person or persons to whom it 
occurs must spit in the direction opposite to that of its approach, and the 
mayor prahu must be strengthened by an offering, laid on the sides of the 
boat, of nasi manis and salt water. Birds, on the other hand, are considered 
lucky to meet, except the vulture and domestic poultry, the most lucky being 
the ground dove or Ketiti ( Geopelia striata') ; but the Patani people recognize 
several varieties of this bird that are apparently unknown to ornithologists, 
though some are lucky and others are not. They are as follows : — 
1. Ketiti Kuning (Yellow Ketiti ). z This variety is by far the most lucky, 
and also the rarest. Its dead body should be wrapped up in cloth and 
suspended over the rice-bin ; if the whole village is burned down, the rice- 
bin so protected will escape. A true specimen of the Yellow Ketiti has its 
beak, eyes, legs, and feathers of a clear yellow. It should have as many scales 
as possible, up to thirty, on each of its feet, and its liver should be very small. 
2. Ketiti Itam (Black Ketiti). A little less lucky than the former variety. 
It is entirely black, and its feet should have twenty scales. 
3. Ketiti Puteb (White Ketiti). Unlucky, because other birds have an 
enmity against it, and hawks attack it most readily. It has fifteen scales on 
each foot, and its head and shoulders are white. 
4. Ketiti Api (Fire Ketiti). By far the most unlucky varietv, for it it is 
kept alive in a house the house will certainly be burnt down. Its feathers 
are red or ruddy brown, and it has twenty-five scales on each foot. 
Ketiti are snared in great numbers on the shore near Patani, and are 
1. J. R. Logan, Journ. Ind. Archip ., vol. i. For other details, H. Lake and J. H. Kelsall, Journ. Straits 
Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc., No. 26, pp. 39, 40. For much information concerning Malay pantang , see Malay Magic , 
pp. 156, 191, etc. 
2. None of my informants had seen a specimen of this variety ; but the story of a poor man who caught 
one and subsequently became king of the country was well known to them. Mr. Robinson tells me that the black, 
white, and reddish varieties may occur as individual aberrations, and that melanism is not uncommon in allied genera, 
and appears in some cases to be produced by captivity. 
