$a->[ 1.. 4 ] is not valid array slice syntax. You need an @ in there for it to be so: 

[0] Perl> $a = [ qw(mary had a little lamb with mint jelly) ];;
[0] Perl> $b = [ @{ $a }[ 1 .. 4 ] ];;
[0] Perl> print @$b;;
had a little lamb

[download]

I'm surprised that you didn't get a warning or two along the lines of: 

Using an array as a reference is deprecated at ...
Argument "" isn't numeric in array element at ...

[download]
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In reply to Re: Is this a bug, or expected behavior? by BrowserUk
in thread Is this a bug, or expected behavior? by fizbin

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