S. Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



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a white coral beach. I felt as though my heart was buried there with

him too. We planted a palm-tree over his grave and perhaps in

time his remains will be transmuted into the green leaves which

will reach up as though to meet the brilliant tropic sun by day

and the pale silvery moon by night. Even now I can hardly bear

to think or write of him.


To get back to the market in Penang. Another bird seen in great

quantities is the well-known Southern Bed-whiskered Bulbul ( Otocompsa

jocosa erythrotis), a common but to my mind exceedingly handsome

bird with its trim and immaculate black and white plumage set off

with a dash of crimson on the cheeks. These birds are greatly prized

as songsters and the price asked was very moderate—30 cents, or 9 d.

in English money, which was also the price of the exquisite little

Malayan Hanging Parrots. Who could possibly resist these ? I had

to buy a dozen just to release them from their miserable little prison.

It seems the rule in Malaya to keep these little birds in incredibly

small bamboo cages, and once in these there is no way of getting

them out again unless the cage is cut to pieces. Needless to say they

soon get into a horribly sticky mess, and their life in captivity is, alas,

very short indeed. I think these are amongst the world’s most beautiful

parrots.


As I was expecting to go on to Manchukuo and possibly Siberia,

it was impossible to take these birds on with me, so my friend arranged

with a Malay to look after them until I returned. Another bird which

I was unable to resist was the huge Bulbul, the Yellow-crowned

(.Trachycomus zeylanicus), rather a misnomer for a bird which has

an orange head. This is one of the giants of the family, and is about

the size of a Missel Thrush, and is rather a striking bird in appearance.

Later on in Singapore we saw cages full of these wretched birds all

in the most dreadful condition. It is stated that this bird is greatly

prized by the Malays on account of its sweet song, but I never saw

one kept by a Malay. This Bulbul is confined to the Malay Peninsula,

Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and is found only in the vegetation

bordering rivers.


I naturally made inquiries regarding the wonderful pheasants

which are found in Malaya and I was told by a Malay that he had



