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Show 1879.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE BIRDS OF LABUAN. 319 " Labuan itself is about ten miles in extreme length and four in breadth, and contains about 47 square miles. Daat contains probably about seven hundred acres, principally of fine forest; Pappan about sixty acres ; Karaman is of about the same size as Daat, the two Rusukans being each smaller than Pappan, while Burong and Enoe are mere tufts of rock and forest in the sea. All the islands are finely timbered, though the forest on Labuan has been ruthlessly burnt for ' padi' planting. Burong Island is composed entirely of limestone-and is rather famous for possessing great numbers of a very venomous and spiteful-looking serpent of a brilliant emerald-green, which is generally found coiled round boughs at a few feet from the ground, and is usually motionless until disturbed. On Labuan and Daat Wild Boar are still to be found ; and on Daat alone the interesting Semnopitheeus nasica exists, which has not been observed on the other islands. Daat is not more than a mile and a half from the coast of Borneo, between it and Labuan; it is probable that Bornean forms may be met with more frequently there than in Labuan, from which it is distant over four miles. Such Deer as Labuan once possessed have been pretty well exterminated. Gulls, Terns, and Waders are certainly not plentiful in these seas, and a new comer is struck by the absence of these graceful birds. At certain seasons Golden Plover, Snipe, and Painted Snipe make their appearance on the swampy low land near the sea. Shells are numerous and handsome ; and a systematic course of dredging would produce some fine specimens. The Cones, Volutes, Harpce, Doha and Cypreeee are very fine; but those brought for sale are frequently injured by the natives in searching for them, or in making them more attractive to the purchaser. " Natural history in Borneo owes a large debt to Mr. Low, one of the oldest residents in Labuan, whose name is well known to science. His labours in every department of zoology and botany, as well as his numerous excursions and travels in Borneo, and his intimate acquaintance with the various tribes of the great island, make him a foremost authority on all matters connected with their part of the Malay archipelago. To one of the several intelligent natives instructed in preparing birds I am indebted in great part for the present collection, which I trust will be found to contain the great majority of birds of ' Labuan and its dependencies.' I may add that I can vouch for the locality of every bird, as, with but one or two exceptions from trustworthy hands, they have all been shot by my Kadyan boy ' Buak' (who is retained in m y house), or by myself, or by residents on the coast. At least fifty species have been obtained in the grounds of Government House, which is prettily situated in park-like land, dotted with forest, about one hundred and fifty acres in extent. "The remaining birds in the collection, not specially included in the Labuan series, come from the opposite coast. Some are from the neighbourhood of Borneo, others from the little'Kadhyan settlement of Lumbidan (whither I despatched m y boy Buak for a month, after purchasing some birds from natives), on the north-west coast, and |