38 
NORTH BORNEO. 
introduced the Java Sparrow ( Padda oryzivora ), which in time, no doubt, will prove as 
beneficial on a smaller scale to the Bornean native as rabbits have in Australia! 
The Java Sparrow is well known to all of us, often being imported into this country 
by bird-dealers. In Labuan, the original pair or pairs imported have increased at a prodigious 
rate, and now form large flocks, and no doubt in time will exterminate the weaker race 
(M. brunneiceps). The Sarawak Dyaks often purchase Java Sparrows in Labnan to take 
home with them; if a few pairs attain their liberty the Dyaks will have the honour of 
adding one more enemy to their paddi-fields. 
I also shot numbers of Doves ( T-urtur tigrina ), and a small Green Pigeon (Treron 
vernans) affords excellent sport in the evenings, dashing past the shooter in large flocks. 
There are also one or two species that frequent the precincts of your dwelling. First, 
perhaps one of the most elegant in its movements of birds, is a small Fan-tailed Flycatcher 
(Lencocerca javanica), which hops about on the ground below the shady mango-trees, with 
its wings almost touching the ground, and its black and white tail spread out like a Turkey, 
uttering every nowand then its pretty note “ kip-kip-pe-wlieeJc.” In the mango-trees it 
builds a pretty cup-shaped nest, bound to a slender dead branch by means of spiders’ web. 
Then there is the well-known Dial-bird (Copsyelms amcenus) with its Magpie-like plumage, 
which delights one with its singing. Prettiest of all is the dark metallic-blue-throated Sun- 
bird (Nectarinia pectoralis), which often hovers under the verandah in search of insect prey : 
this bird builds a pretty pendent nest of dead leaves and grass, hound together with 
spiders’ web ; the entrance is from a small roofed hole in the side ; at the bottom a long 
streamer of leaves was left hanging loosely, which helped the nest to escape my observation 
on several occasions, resembling as it did the collections of rubbish that are spun together 
either by caterpillars or ants. At the foot of the low hill on which my Labuan house was 
built the shore was fringed with coconut- and sago-palms, and beyond this a mangrove- 
swamp, which though an unhealthy place to visit, was nevertheless teeming with animal 
life. Most noticeable of the inhabitants of these swamps are numbers of small fish which 
spend more of their, time out of the water than in it: they are called by sailors “ Jumping 
Johnnies,” from their curious habit of hopping about on the mud; for this dual existence 
they are provided with specially convertible tails and pectoral fins, which, when out of the 
water, act as legs (p. 31—illustration), so that they walk about with ease ; when, however, 
excited by my approach, the tail is twisted round and is used for jumping with, acting as 
a lever. It is a curious sight to see dozens of small fish hopping about on the mud: at the 
edge of the water they are more plentiful, when, if disturbed, they can escape into the sea; 
but they do not seem to care about diving, preferring to hop along on the surface to some 
rock, on which they sit. I found them difficult to catch, except with a hook baited with a 
fly, when some dozen would bob along on the mud in eager pursuit of this bait. The 
mangroves are also the homes of many varieties of crabs : some are provided with one huge 
claw as big as themselves, coloured bright red or yellow; these seem to be the Dyaks or 
fighting men of this mud colony; they are about two inches long, and live in round holes 
burrowed deep in the mud: at low tide they swagger about seeking to fight one another, 
one crab driving another from the entrance of its burrow; when the vanquished one thinks 
it has been driven far enough it executes a flanking movement and bolts home. What 
