On another occasion Mr. Wallace had an opportunity of observing the
nest, or rather nest-making, which is performed by these animals when
severely wounded. “He was called by a Chinaman working in Borneo to
shoot a Mias which, he said, was on a tree close by his house at the
coal-mines. Arriving at the place, we had some difficulty in finding
the animal, as he had gone off into the jungle, which was very rocky
and difficult to traverse. At last we found him up a very high tree,
and could see that he was a male of the largest size. As soon as I had
fired, he moved higher up the tree, and while he was doing so I fired
again; and we then saw that one arm was broken. He had now reached the
very highest part of an immense tree, and immediately began breaking
off boughs all around, and laying them across and across to make a
nest. It was very interesting to see how well he had chosen his place,
and how rapidly he stretched out his unwounded arm in every direction,
breaking off good-sized boughs with the greatest ease, and laying
them back across each other, so that in a few minutes he had formed a
compact mass of foliage, which entirely concealed him from our sight.
He was evidently going to pass the night here, and would probably get
away early the next morning, if not wounded too severely. I therefore
fired again several times, in hopes of making him leave his nest; but,
though I felt sure I had hit him, as at each shot he moved a little,
he would not go away. At length he raised himself up, so that half
his body was visible, and then gradually sank down, his head alone
remaining on the edge of the nest. I now felt sure he was dead, and
tried to persuade the Chinaman and his companion to cut down the tree;
but it was a very large one, and they had been at work all day, and
nothing would induce them to attempt it. The next morning, at daybreak,
I came to the place, and found that the Mias was evidently dead, as his
head was visible in exactly the same position as before.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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