Stebbins R. 1963 Asian Trip Bangkok Feb. 2 Customs and the house is like a good luck charm or rabbits' foot. Near many of the homes were haystacks of rice straw, and occasionally a pile of rice. The buffaloes are used to thresh the grain and the straw is worked out with rakes or pitch-forks. Then the rice is winnowed in flat baskets to get rid of the chaff. It is transported in small boats along the canal to storage sheds. At Choburi we saw free-living monkeys near on a rocky bluff near the ocean. They came to within 8-10 ft. to get food. There are numbers of blackbirds with forked tail. They have been seen flycatching. The birds are about 8-10 inches in total length. We drove to a earth dam reservoir 15 kms. further south. We drove around it looking for wildlife, since there were a few cultivated stretches. I was surprised at the scarcity of birds or reptiles. No reptiles or frogs were seen. Mrs. Prophane has pointed out that it is the season of dormancy but it is certainly warm enough for reptiles to be active. I have seen small boys with slingshots. I suspect they are hard on birds. I saw boys shooting at swallows