Kedah natural history notes
This note by A. W. Hamilton records Malay names and brief natural history observations for a selection of birds and fish encountered in Kedah, published in the Journal of the MBRAS in 1930 (p. 330).
Summary
Hamilton provides corrected or verified Malay names for approximately fifteen species, including the scarlet-backed Flower-pecker (Sepah Peteri), the Fantail Flycatcher (Chenchala or Murai Gila), the Purple Heron (Seriap), and the Malayan Banded Crake (Sintar Api), alongside a few mammals and freshwater fish (p. 330–333). Several entries include short ethnographic remarks: the heron’s former abundance and its nesting in perepok reed beds, with royalty collecting eggs on elephant-backs; the banded crake’s capture in rotan basket traps set in converging twig fences; and the use of serow meat and spittle as a healing unguent (p. 331–332). The note closes with a description of the Malay practice of pitting ikan pelaga (fighting fish of the genus Betta) against one another in glass jars, with bets placed on the outcome (p. 332–333).