In my more special pursuits, I had very little success upon the mountain—
owing, perhaps, to the excessively unpropitious weather and the shortness of my
stay. At from 7,000 to 8,000 feet elevation, I obtained one of the most lovely of
the small Fruit pigeons (Ptilonopus roseicollis), whose entire head and neck are
of an exquisite rosy pink colour, contrasting finely with its otherwise green
plumage; and on the very summit, feeding on the ground among the strawberries
that have been planted there, I obtained a dull-coloured thrush, with the form and
habits of a starling (Turdus fumidus). Insects were almost entirely absent, owing
no doubt to the extreme dampness, and I did not get a single butterfly the whole
trip; yet I feel sure that, during the dry season, a week's residence on this
mountain would well repay the collector in every department of natural history.
After my return to Toego, I endeavoured to find another locality to collect in,
and removed to a coffee-plantation some miles to the north, and tried in
succession higher and lower stations on the mountain; but, I never succeeded in
obtaining insects in any abundance and birds were far less plentiful than on the
Megamendong Mountain. The weather now became more rainy than ever, and as
the wet season seemed to have set in in earnest, I returned to Batavia, packed up
and sent off my collections, and left by steamer on November 1st for Banca and
Sumatra.