Note 10 — Chapter V · Magic Rites connected with the Several Departments of Nature

“Ideas of various characters are associated by Malays with birds of different kinds, and many of their favourite similes are furnished by the feathered world. The peacock strutting in the jungle, the argus pheasant calling on the mountain peak, the hoot of the owl, and the cry of the night-jar, have all suggested comparisons of various kinds, which are embodied in the proverbs of the people.10 The Malay is a keen observer of nature, and his illustrations, drawn from such sources, are generally just and often poetical.