This flowerpecker was found only in the moss forest above Tenom, where it was seen numerous times feeding among the epiphytic plants.
Zosterops everetti tahanensis Ogilvie-Grant: Everett's White-eye.—Specimens, 9: Cocoa Research Station: ♀, August 8, 1962, MCT 2734; ♂ testis 4 × 3 mm., August 8, 1962, MCT 2735; ♀, 8.6 gm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2757; ♀, 7.8 gm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2758; ♀ imm., 7.9 gm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2759; ♀, 8.2 gm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2760; ♂, 7.8 gm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2761; ♂ imm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2762; ♂ imm., 7.8 gm., August 11, 1962, MCT 2764.
At the Cocoa Research Station flocks of 20 to 40 birds were seen daily, feeding in the cocoa trees. Only once was this species seen away from the cocoa trees; this was in secondary forest where the birds were feeding in a tree about 30 feet tall. They move in flocks and are noisy.
Smythies (1960:485) states that this species occurs from the Poi Range up to the lower slopes of Kinabalu. This is apparently the first record from eastern Borneo.
Lonchura fuscans (Cassin): Dusky Munia.—Specimens, 11. Cocoa Research Station: ♀, July 6, 1962, MCT 2603; ♀, September 1, 1962, MCT 2847; ♂ testis 7 × 6 mm., September 1, 1962, MCT 2848; ♂ testis enlarged, September 24, 1962, MCT 2943. Tenom: ♀, January 6, 1962, MCT 3584; ♀, January 6, 1963, MCT 3585; ♂ testis enlarged, January 6, 1963, MCT 3586; ♀ several collapsed follicles, old brood patch, January 6, 1963, MCT 3587; ♀ imm., January 6, 1963, MCT 3588; ♀, January 6, 1963, MCT 3590; ♂ testis enlarged, January 6, 1963, MCT 3591.
In contrast to L. malacca, this species was commonly found in secondary forest away from cultivated fields. It was common at Quoin Hill and Kalabakan. On July 18, 1962, a pair was observed building a nest near Kalabakan, in a native kampong under the eave of a house. There the birds were fastening the nest to the palm thatching about 20 feet up and nearly over the door. Another pair was nesting, close to the same house, about eight feet up in a citrus tree. In Kalabakan proper, I saw a pair with fledgling young in a croton bush about six feet from the door of a house, on November 15, 1962. This nest was about seven feet up.
Lonchura malacca (Linnaeus): Chestnut Munia.—Specimens, 6: Tawau: ♀ imm., September 2, 1962, MCT 2862. Tenom: ♂, January 6, 1963, MCT 3589. Tuaran: ♀, January 12, 1963, MCT 3594; ♀, January 12, 1963, MCT 3595; hermaphrodite, testis 8 × 5 mm., largest ovum of ovary 2 mm., January 12, 1963, MCT 3596; ♀, January 12, 1963, MCT 3597.
This was a common bird in the lowlands away from forest. I observed it feeding on lawns in Tawau. A pair was building a nest on July 19, 1962, in an ironwood tree about 10 feet above the ground. The nest was typically ball-shaped with a side entrance. This species appears to stay in age groups when it flocks, as evidenced by the large flocks of young in first-year plumage.
The hermaphroditic specimen was of some interest, since the ovary and testis both seemed to be enlarged.