202



W. Goodfellow—Familiar Birds of Singapore



short bit of cane in his hand, and as soon as he has spotted a likely

bird he touches it once with the cane, and from that moment does not

seem to lose sight of it again, and catches up the bird unerringly among

all the jumble of fluttering birds. Dealers charge a little more for birds

selected in this way. So many tourists go to that now very sophisticated

island of Bali, and not one could have failed to notice immediately

on landing the forest of bamboo poles rising some fifty feet above every

village, each with a cage containing one Dove under an umbrella-like

arrangement at the top. These are drawn up on a pulley, and brought

down again every night. The Dove in a wild state seems to spend all

its time on the ground. Although still not scarce, they are nothing

like so plentiful in Singapore as they were some years ago. They nest

in low bamboo hedges and one or more nests will be found in any

compound surrounded by such a hedge. Both this and the preceding

Dove have a wide range throughout the Malay Archipelago, probably

much extended artificially as the Malays moving about among the

islands take their birds with them, and many must escape in the course

of time. Malay name ‘‘ Merbok


There must be very few people indeed who do not know the Java

Sparrow (. Padda oryzirora), even if they have never kept one in

their lives. Therefore to see a bird they at once recognize around their

hotel or bungalow must, I imagine, give them lively satisfaction.

This bird has spread over so many islands and countries that it is

difficult to say where its original home was, but it is generally agreed

that it was Java and Bali. Every year hundreds of thousands still

come to Singapore from Java, and one can only marvel that the supply

does not become exhausted, but this does not seem to be the case.

Where all these eventually go to would be interesting to know. There

is the representative of one Continental firm alone who makes some¬

times two quick journeys yearly to the Ear East, who told me in

Singapore last year that among other things he had an order for

thirty-jive thousand Java Sparrows alone ! And so it goes on. What

would it be like in Java if they were protected ? Surely the rice

crops in a few years would be a complete failure ; they must take a

great toll as it is. I often think that this bird with his pleasing arrange¬

ment of soft colours is not fully appreciated just because it is so



