242



S. Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



except a few sparrows ! ” In the swamps remain the native vegetation

with the indigenous insects which feed on it and which in turn are

preyed upon by the birds.


After the blazing heat of towns, and ships, the peace and quietude,

the calm waters and pleasant green shade provide a much appreciated

haven of refuge. It. is quite impossible to land in most of the creeks,

for the moment one’s foot touches the “ land ”, one sinks up to the

waist in bottomless mud. It is very tantalizing, for on every hand

one hears a chorus of bird calls, but is unable to follow them up. As

mentioned before, Kingfishers are the commonest birds, but what a

galaxy of these gorgeously apparelled birds there are. First there is

the exquisite White-collared ( Halcyon chloris humii), a medium-sized

bird of snow white and brilliant azure blue. This is one of the

“ Halcyon ” group which find their food not by fishing but by preying

upon small land animals such as crabs, lizards, centipedes, etc. This

is one of the commonest birds in Malaya and is found all along the

sea coasts and is a very conspicuous object in the towns and villages

which border the water. It takes up its position in some advantageous

place, such as the top of a dead tree or on a post, and from there swoops

down at any small living object within vision. I have frequently seen

the nesting holes high up in the trunk of a dead and decayed tree.

This bird would no doubt be easy to keep in captivity. I still have

a closely allied species from Australia, the Mangrove Kingfisher, which

I have had in captivity for several years. Another common Kingfisher

is the equally lovely White-throated (. Halcyon smyrnensis), a bird

with a very wide range. It is a little larger than the former with rich

brown breast, white throat, and brilliant blue wings and tail. This

is common all over Malaya and differs from the other bird in being

found inland, and is often seen in parks and gardens in the towns.

In the old days it formed the largest percentage of “ trade skins ”

exported to Europe for millinery purposes; since those days it has

no doubt increased. I saw one specimen in captivity but it had

recently been caught and was very wild and doubtless would not

survive long.


A much smaller bird than the previous one is the Common Malayan

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis hengalensis) , a bird almost indistinguishable



