the cool season, and herons, bitterns and ducks at all times. The
birds of prey, 45 species, of which 22 are peculiar to the group,
vary in size from a tiny falcon not larger than a sparrow (Microhierax),
to an immense monkey-catching eagle (Pithecophaga
gefferyi, Grant), which is strong enough to seize monkeys as they
leap from tree to tree. There are 21 species of kingfishers, 15
being peculiar. Of the 12 species of horn bills not one occurs
outside of the Philippines. Frog-mouths, bee-birds, night-hawks
and swifts are found in considerable variety. One of the last
(Collocalia troglodytes, Gray) constructs the edible nests so highly
prized by the Chinese. The best nests are obtained on the precipitous
sides of the Peñon de Coron, between Culion and Busuanga.
There may also be mentioned 21 cuckoos, 1 cockatoo, 20 parrots and parakeets, 20 woodpeckers, barbets, broadbills, starlings, orioles, weaver-finches, larks, nuthatches, 28 beautifully coloured sun birds, and 23 flower-peckers, titmice, shrikes, swallow-shrikes, tailor-birds, thrushes, fruit-thrushes, fairy blue-birds, fire-birds, 42 fly-catchers, 4 swallows, and 5 species of most beautifully coloured ant-thrushes, as well as a large number of birds for which English names cannot be readily supplied.
Reptiles and batrachians are abundant, but have been little studied. Pythons occur throughout the group, and sometimes attain enormous size. There are numerous venomous serpents, but the mortality from snake-bite is low. Geckoes may be seen on the walls and ceilings of any house. Flying lizards abound in the forests. Large iguanas are numerous. Their eggs are prized by the natives, and the flesh of one species, known as ibit or pelubid, is highly esteemed. Crocodiles are extremely numerous in many of the streams, and are occasionally found in the sea along the coasts. Specimens have been obtained measuring 18 ft. in length. Land turtles of small size are common. Very large sea turtles are often captured by the fishermen, and their flesh is highly appreciated as an article of food. A considerable business is done in tortoise-shell. Frogs occur in great variety. One small species appears in immense numbers with the oncoming of the rainy season, and at night the noise of its outcry almost deadens other sounds.
Fishes, especially marine fishes, are numerous and varied. About 500 species of food fishes have been found, and common among them are the bangos or milkfish, the banak or mullet, mackerel, herring, anchovies, groupers, snappers, pompano, tarpon and bonito. The “dalag,” which is found in the paddy-fields during the wet season, is a favourite with the natives.
The Philippines are famous for the variety, beauty and abundance of their land molluscs. Fresh-water and marine molluscs are also very numerous. While most of the species are of interest chiefly to the conchologist, there are a number of edible forms. The shells of Placuna placenta, L., split into thin flat plates and, cut into small squares, are almost universally used in place of window glass. The valves of the giant clam (Tridachna) sometimes attain a length of 5 ft. and weigh hundreds of pounds. Pearl-oysters are abundant in the southern waters of the archipelago. Pearl-fishing is an important industry in the Sulu Islands. The shells of the pearly nautilus are commonly used by the Visayans for drinking cups. From the great opercula of certain marine forms bracelets and other ornaments are carved, while the hard serrated edges of other species are sometimes employed in place of knives for harvesting rice. The land molluscs have been thoroughly classified, but much still remains to be done with the marine species.
Arthropoda are very abundant and as yet little known. Shrimps, crabs and lobsters form an important source of food supply. Mosquitoes are numerous in the wet lowlands. Bees are abundant, and wild honey and wax are gathered in considerable quantities, The number of species of ants is very large. Some of them infest dwelling-houses and swarm over the food. The termites, or so-called “white ants,” inflict great damage on wooden buildings. Plagues of locusts occasionally, during a drought, ruin growing crops; in damp wet weather these insects are destroyed by a fungus growth (Empusa gryllae) within their bodies.
Land-leeches swarm in the damp lowland forests. The coral beds of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are of unsurpassed beauty, and Guimaras, Cebú and Siquijor are completely covered with a thick cap of coral limestone.
Flora.—The rich and varied flora of the Philippines is essentially Malayan, intermixed with Chinese and Australian elements, but with sufficient individuality to constitute a sub-region, there being at least 769 species peculiar to the archipelago. More than two-thirds of the land surface is covered with forests. In the lowlands and on the lower mountain slopes the forests are composed chiefly of broad-leaved trees, common among which are the bamboo, the coco and other palms, and the banyan tree; but on the higher mountain slopes pines are most abundant. About 750 species of wood are of commercial or local value, among them are woods well suited for structural purposes, inside finishing, cabinet work and carriage making. Plants valuable for their fibre number about 300, and among them is the abacá (Musa texilis), from the leaves of which Manila hemp is made. There are gutta-percha, india-rubber and other trees and plants yielding gums, the banana, mango, and many other trees and plants yielding fruits; and various trees and plants yielding nuts, spices, oils and medicines.
Climate.—A uniformly high temperature, excessive humidity, heavy rainfalls and violent tropical storms, known as typhoons or bagúios, are characteristic of the Philippine climate. At Manila the mean annual temperature is about 80° F., the range of mean monthly temperature 6·48°, from 77° in January to 83·48° in May; and the range of extremes (during the period from 1881 to 1902) 39·96° from 60·08° in January 1881 to 100·04° in May 1889. In accordance with the monthly variations in temperature at Manila the year is divided into three seasons: temperate (November, December, January and February), hot (April, May and June) and intermediate (March, July, September and October). Throughout the archipelago the mean annual temperature varies much more with the altitude than with the latitude, but the range in mean monthly temperatures increases from 3·96° F. at Dávao, Mindanao, in 7° 1′ N. to 12·6° at Santo Domingo, Batan Islands, in 20° 28′ N. The equability of the temperature also decreases appreciably from the sea-coast to the interior. The maximum daily range of temperature at Manila varies from 13·8° in June to 17·7° in December. At Manila the monthly average of relative humidity ranges from 70·7° in April to 85·5° in September, and the annual average is 79·4°. The mean annual rainfall in this city is about 76 in., and nearly three-fourths of it is from the middle of June to the middle of October, when the winds blow from the south-west. During the period from 1865 to 1902 the annual rainfall varied from 35·6 in. in 1885 to 117·3 in. in 1867 when in the month of September alone there was a fall of 57·8 in. In July, August and September two-thirds of the days are rainy, but in February, March and April only one-tenth of them are rainy. On the Pacific coast of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao the rainy season is from November to May, when the winds blow from the east or the north-east. In the year ending August 1903 the amounts of rainfall at 41 observation stations widely distributed throughout the archipelago varied from 16·2 in. at Zamboanga in west Mindanao to 152 in. at Masinloc, on the west coast of central Luzon. The Philippines are visited on the average by twenty or more typhoons annually. About one-fifth of them occur in September. During January, February, March and April they are rare; in May, June and July they become increasingly common, and in August there is a falling off in the number, which reaches its maximum in September, gradually decreasing in October, November and December. In the famous typhoon of the 20th of October 1882, the vortex of which passed over Manila, an immense amount of damage was done in the city. Two thousand persons lost their lives in Samar and Leyte during the great storm of 1897. The typhoon warnings sent out from the Manila observatory annually save heavy loss of life and property.
Soil.—The soil, usually of a reddish-brown colour, is for the most part disintegrated lava mixed with decayed vegetation; occasionally there is also a mixture of disintegrated coral limestone.
Agriculture.—Agriculture is the principal industry. In 1903 about 40% of the working population were engaged in agricultural pursuits. The industry is, however, in a primitive condition. The native farmers are lazy and slow to appreciate the advantages of the methods recommended by the Americans. Only 9·5% of all the land in the archipelago was included in “farms” in 1903, and less than one-half of tie farm land was under cultivation. La Laguna, Luzon, was the only province in which more than 50% of the land was included in “farms,” and Cebú the only island in which more than 25% of the land was included in farms; in the large island of Mindanao only 1·4%, in Masbate only 1·6% and in Mindoro only 3·9%. There were 815,453 “farms” or individual holdings, but more than one-fifth of these were small parcels or gardens containing less than an acre each; about one-half contained less than 212 acres each, and the average size was 8·57 acres. More than four-fifths of them were worked by owners, and the remainder chiefly by share tenants. The principal crops are hemp (abacá), sugar, tobacco, coco-nuts and rice. Most of the hemp (538,200 acres in 1902) is grown in south Luzon and in Samar and Leyte, but smaller crops are produced in Cebú, Mindoro, Marinduque, north Mindanao and south Negros; the crop became of commercial importance about 1855, and in 1907 the yield for export amounted to 112,895 tons. About two-thirds of the sugar is produced in Negros, but it is an important crop in the provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac, within the lowland basin of Luzon, also in the province of Batangas on the south coast of Luzon, in the south and east of Panay, and in Cebú. The production increased from about 6000 tons in 1855 to 300,000 tons in 1893, and for many years prior to 1887 it was a more important crop than hemp, but since the American occupation the crop has been smaller. The total acreage in 1902 was 177,620 acres, and in 1907 the yield for export was 118,395 tons. Approximately one-half of the tobacco, 77,632 acres yielding 37,485 ℔ in 1902, is grown in the valley of the Cagayán river, and most of the remainder, which is of inferior quality, in the neighbouring provinces of Union, Ilocos Norte and Abra, and in Panay, Cebú, Masbate and Negros. The natives chew betel nuts instead of tobacco, and to the production of these nuts they devote more than 60,000 acres. The rich soil of the lowlands of the province of Laguna is especially well adapted to the culture of the coco-nut palm, and since the American occupation considerable land in this province that had formerly been devoted to sugar
