[Footnote 1: It is a very small Singhalese variety of Scotophilus Coromandelicus; F. Cuv.]

[Footnote 2: For a notice of the curious parasite peculiar to the bat, see Note A. end of this chapter.]

III. CARNIVORA.—Bears.—Of the carnivora, the one most dreaded by the natives of Ceylon, and the only one of the larger animals which makes the depths of the forest its habitual retreat, is the bear[1], attracted by the honey which is to be found in the hollow trees and clefts of the rocks. Occasionally spots of fresh earth are observed which have been turned up by them in search of some favourite root. They feed also on the termites and ants. A friend of mine traversing the forest near Jaffna, at early dawn, had his attention attracted by the growling of a bear, which was seated upon a lofty branch thrusting portions of a red-ant's nest into its mouth with one paw, whilst with the other he endeavoured to clear his eyebrows and lips of the angry inmates which bit and tortured him in their rage. The Ceylon bear is found only in the low and dry districts of the northern and south-eastern coast, and is seldom met with on the mountains or the moist and damp plains of the west. It is furnished with a bushy tuft of hair on the back, between the shoulders, to which the young are accustomed to cling till sufficiently strong to provide for their own safety. During a severe drought which prevailed in the northern province in 1850, the district of Caretchy was so infested by bears that the Oriental custom of the women resorting to the wells was altogether suspended, as it was a common occurrence to find one of these animals in the water, unable to climb up the yielding and slippery soil, down which his thirst had impelled him to slide during the night.

[Footnote 1: Prochilus labiatus, Blainville.]

Although the structure of the bear shows him to be naturally omnivorous, he rarely preys upon flesh in Ceylon, and his solitary habits whilst in search of honey and fruits, render him timid and retiring. Hence he evinces alarm on the approach of man or other animals, and, unable to make a rapid retreat, his panic rather than any vicious disposition leads him to become an assailant in self-defence. But so furious are his assaults under such circumstances that the Singhalese have a terror of his attack greater than that created by any other beast of the forest. If not armed with a gun, a native, in the places where bears abound, usually carries a light axe, called "kodelly," with which to strike them on the head. The bear, on the other hand, always aims, at the face, and, if successful in prostrating his victim, usually commences by assailing the eyes. I have met numerous individuals on our journeys who exhibited frightful scars from these encounters, the white seams of their wounds contrasting hideously with the dark colour of the rest of their bodies.

The Veddahs in Bintenne, whose chief stores consist of honey, live in dread of the bears, because, attracted by its perfume, they will not hesitate to attack their rude dwellings, when allured by this irresistible temptation. The Post-office runners, who always travel by night, are frequently exposed to danger from these animals, especially along the coast from Putlam to Aripo, where they are found in considerable numbers; and, to guard against surprise, they are accustomed to carry flambeaux, to give warning to the bears, and enable them to shuffle out of the path.[1]

[Footnote 1: Amongst the Singhalese there is a belief that certain charms are efficacious in protecting them from the violence of bears, and those whose avocations expose them to encounters of this kind are accustomed to carry a talisman either attached to their neck or enveloped in the folds of their luxuriant hair. A friend of mine, writing of an adventure which occurred at Anarajapoora, thus describes an occasion on which a Moor, who attended him, was somewhat rudely disabused of his belief in the efficacy of charms upon bears:—"Desiring to change the position of a herd of deer, the Moorman (with his charm) was sent across some swampy land to disturb them. As he was proceeding we saw him suddenly turn from an old tree and run back with all speed, his hair becoming unfastened and like his clothes streaming in the wind. It soon became evident that he was flying from some terrific object, for he had thrown down his gun, and, in his panic, he was taking the shortest line towards us, which lay across a swamp covered with sedge and rushes that greatly impeded his progress, and prevented us approaching him, or seeing what was the cause of his flight. Missing his steps from one hard spot to another he repeatedly fell into the water, but he rose and resumed his flight. I advanced as far as the sods would bear my weight, but to go further was impracticable. Just within ball range there was an open space, and, as the man gained it, I saw that he was pursued by a bear and two cubs. As the person of the fugitive covered the bear, it was impossible to fire without risk. At last he fell exhausted, and the bear being close upon him, I discharged both barrels. The first broke the bear's shoulder, but this only made her more savage, and rising on her hind legs she advanced with ferocious grunts, when the second barrel, though I do not think it took effect, served to frighten her, for turning round she retreated at full speed, followed by the cubs. Some natives then waded through the mud to the Moorman, who was just exhausted and would have been drowned but that he fell with his head upon a tuft of grass: the poor man was unable to speak, and for several weeks his intellect seemed confused. The adventure sufficed to satisfy him that he could not again depend upon a charm to protect him from bears, though he always insisted that but for its having fallen from his hair where he had fastened it under his turban, the bear would not have ventured to attack him."]

Leopards[1] are the only formidable members of the tiger race in Ceylon, and they are neither very numerous nor very dangerous as they seldom attack man. By Europeans they are commonly called cheetahs; but the true cheetah, the hunting leopard of India (Felis jubata), does not exist in Ceylon. There is a rare variety which has been found in various parts of the island, in which the skin, instead of being spotted, is of a uniform black.[2] The leopards frequent the vicinity of pasture lands in quest of the deer and other peaceful animals which resort to them; and the villagers often complain of the destruction of their cattle by these formidable marauders. In relation to them, the natives have a curious but firm conviction that when a bullock is killed by a leopard, and, in expiring, falls so that its right side is undermost, the leopard will not return to devour it. I have been told by English sportsmen (some of whom share in the popular belief), that sometimes, when they have proposed to watch by the carcase of a bullock recently killed by a leopard, in the hope of shooting the spoiler on his return in search of his prey, the native owner of the slaughtered animal, though earnestly desiring to be avenged, has assured them that it would be in vain, as, the beast having fallen on its right side, the leopard would not return.

[Footnote 1: Felis pardus, Linn. What is called a leopard, or a cheetah, in Ceylon, is in reality the true panther.]

[Footnote 2: F. melas, Peron and Leseur.]

The Singhalese hunt them for the sake of their extremely beautiful skins, but prefer taking them in traps and pitfalls, and occasionally in spring cages formed of poles driven firmly into the ground, within which a kid is generally fastened as a bait; the door being held open by a sapling bent down by the united force of several men, and so arranged to act as a spring, to which a noose is ingeniously attached, formed of plaited deer hide. The cries of the kid attract the leopards, one of which, being tempted to enter, is enclosed by the liberation of the spring and grasped firmly round the body by the noose.

Like the other carnivora, they are timid and cowardly in the presence of man, never intruding on him voluntarily and making a hasty retreat when approached. Instances have, however, occurred of individuals having been slain by them, and like the tiger, it is believed, that, having once tasted human blood they acquire an habitual relish for it. A peon on night duty at the courthouse at Anarajapoora, was some years ago carried off by a leopard from a table in the verandah on which he had laid down his head to sleep. At Batticaloa a "cheetah" in two instances in succession was known to carry off men placed on a stage erected in a tree to drive away elephants from the rice-lands: but such cases are rare, and as compared with their dread of the bear, the natives of Ceylon entertain but slight apprehensions of the "cheetah." It is, however, the dread of sportsmen, whose dogs when beating in the jungle are especially exposed to its attacks: and I am aware of one instance in which a party having tied their dogs to the tent-pole for security, and fallen asleep around them, a leopard sprang into the tent and carried off a dog from the midst of its slumbering masters.

They are strongly attracted by the peculiar odour which accompanies small-pox. The reluctance of the natives to submit themselves or their children to vaccination exposes the island to frightful visitations of this disease; and in the villages in the interior it is usual on such occasions to erect huts in the jungle to serve as temporary hospitals. Towards these the leopards are certain to be allured; and the medical officers are obliged to resort to increased precautions in consequence. On one occasion being in the mountains near Kandy, a messenger despatched to me through the jungle excused his delay by stating that a "cheetah" had seated itself in the only practicable path, and remained quietly licking its fore paws and rubbing them over its face, till he was forced to drive it, with stones, into the forest.

Major Skinner, who for upwards of forty years has had occasion to live almost constantly in the interior, occupied in the prosecution of surveys and the construction of roads, is strongly of opinion that towards man the disposition of the leopard is essentially pacific, and that, when discovered, its natural impulse is to effect its escape. In illustration of this, I insert an extract from one of his letters, which describes an adventure highly characteristic of this instinctive timidity.

"On the occasion of one of my visits to Adam's Peak in the prosecution of my military reconnoissances of the mountain, zone, I fixed on a pretty little patena (i.e. meadow) in the midst of an extensive and dense forest in the southern segment of the Peak Range, as a favourable spot for operations. It would have been difficult, after descending from the cone of the peak, to have found one's way to this point, in the midst of so vast a wilderness of trees, had not long experience assured me that good game tracks would be found leading to it, and by one of them I reached it. It was in the afternoon, just after one of those tropical sun-showers which decorate every branch and blade with its pendant brilliants, and the little patena was covered with game, either driven to the open space by the drippings from the leaves or tempted by the freshness of the pasture: there were several pairs of elk, the bearded antlered male contrasting finely with his mate; and other varieties of game in a profusion not to be found in any place frequented by man. It was some time before I could allow them to be disturbed by the rude fall of the axe, in our necessity to establish our bivouac for the night, and they were so unaccustomed to danger, that it was long before they took alarm at our noises.

"The following morning, anxious to gain a height in time to avail myself of the clear atmosphere of sunrise for my observations, I started off by myself through the jungle, leaving orders for my men, with my surveying instruments, to follow my track by the notches which I cut in the bark of the trees. On leaving the plain, I availed myself of a fine wide game track which lay in my direction, and had gone, perhaps half a mile from the camp, when I was startled by a slight rustling in the nilloo[1] to my right, and in another instant, by the spring of a magnificent leopard which, in a bound of full eight feet in height over the lower brushwood, lighted at my feet within eighteen inches of the spot whereon I stood, and lay in a crouching position, his fiery gleaming eyes fixed on me.

[Footnote 1: A species of one of the suffruticose Acanthacea which grows abundantly in the mountain ranges of Ceylon. See ante, p. 90 n.]

"The predicament was not a pleasant one. I had no weapon of defence, and with one spring or blow of his paw the beast could have annihilated me. To move I knew would only encourage his attack. It occurred to me at the moment that I had heard of the power of man's eye over wild animals, and accordingly I fixed my gaze as intently, as the agitation of such a moment enabled me, on his eyes: we stared at each other for some seconds, when, to my inexpressible joy, the beast turned and bounded down the straight open path before me." "This scene occurred just at that period of the morning when the grazing animals retired from the open patena to the cool shade of the forest: doubtless, the leopard had taken my approach for that of a deer, or some such animal. And if his spring had been at a quadruped instead of a biped, his distance was so well measured, that it must have landed him on the neck of a deer, an elk, or a buffalo; as it was, one pace more would have done for me. A bear would not have let his victim off so easily."

It is said, but I never have been able personally to verify the fact, that the Ceylon leopard exhibits a peculiarity in being unable entirely to retract its claws within their sheaths.

Of the lesser feline species the number and variety in Ceylon is inferior to that of India. The Palm-cat[1] lurks by day among the fronds of the coco-nut trees, and by night makes destructive forays on the fowls of the villagers; and, in order to suck the blood of its victim, inflicts a wound so small as to be almost imperceptible. The glossy genette[2], the "Civet" of Europeans, is common in the northern province, where the Tamils confine it in cages for the sake of its musk, which they collect from the wooden bars on which it rubs itself. Edrisi, the Moorish geographer, writing in the twelfth century, enumerates musk as one of the productions then exported from Ceylon.[3]

[Footnote 1: Paradoxurus typus, F. Cuv.]

[Footnote 2: Viverra Indica, Geoffr., Hodgson.]

[Footnote 3: EDRISI, Geogr., sec. vii. Jaubert's translation, t. ii. p. 72.]

Dogs.—There is no native wild dog in Ceylon, but every village and town is haunted by mongrels of European descent, which are known by the generic description of Pariahs. They are a miserable race, acknowledged by no owners, living on the garbage of the streets and sewers, lean, wretched, and mangy, and if spoken to unexpectedly, shrinking with an almost involuntary cry. Yet in these persecuted outcasts there survives that germ of instinctive affection which binds the dog to the human race, and a gentle word, even a look of compassionate kindness, is sufficient foundation for a lasting attachment.

The Singhalese, from their religious aversion to taking away life in any form, permit the increase of these desolate creatures till in the hot season they become so numerous as to be a nuisance; and the only expedient hitherto devised by the civil government to reduce their numbers, is once in each year to offer a reward for their destruction, when the Tamils and Malays pursue them in the streets with clubs (guns being forbidden by the police for fear of accidents), and the unresisting dogs are beaten to death on the side-paths and door steps, where they had been taught to resort for food. Lord Torrington, during his tenure of office, attempted the more civilised experiment of putting some check on their numbers, by imposing a dog tax, the effect of which would have been to lead to the drowning of puppies; whereas there is reason to believe that dogs are at present bred by the horse-keepers to be killed for sake of the reward.

Jackal.—The Jackal[1] in the low country hunts in packs, headed by a leader, and these audacious prowlers have been seen to assault and pull down a deer. The small number of hares in the districts they infest is ascribed to their depredations. An excrescence is sometimes found on the head of the jackal, consisting of a small horny cone about half an inch in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair. This the natives call Narri-comboo, and they aver that this "Jackal's Horn" only grows on the head of the leader of the pack.[2] The Singhalese and the Tamils alike regard it as a talisman, and believe that its fortunate possessor can command by its instrumentality the realisation of every wish, and that if stolen or lost by him, it will invariably return of its own accord. Those who have jewels to conceal, rest in perfect security if along with them they can deposit a Narri-comboo, fully convinced that its presence is an effectual safeguard against robbers.

[Footnote 1: Canis aureus. Linn.]

[Footnote 2: In the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London (No. 4362 A), there is a cranium of a jackal which exhibits this strange osseous process on the super-occipital; and I have placed along with it a specimen of the horny sheath, which was presented to me by Mr. Lavalliere, the district judge of Kandy.]

Jackals are subject to hydrophobia, and instances are frequent of cattle being bitten by them and dying in consequence.

The Mongoos.—Of the Mongoos or Ichneumons five species have been described; and one which frequents the hills near Neuera-ellia[1], is so remarkable from its bushy fur, that the invalid soldiers in the sanatarium, to whom it is familiar, call it the "Ceylon Badger." I have found universally that the natives of Ceylon attach no credit to the European story of the Mongoos (H. griseus) resorting to some plant, which no one has yet succeeded in identifying, as an antidote against the bite of the venomous serpents on which it preys. There is no doubt that in its conflicts with the cobra de capello and other poisonous snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as the harmless ones, it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and even to retire into the jungle, and, it is added, to eat some vegetable; but a gentleman who has been a frequent observer of its exploits, assures me that most usually the herb it resorted to was grass; and if this were not at hand, almost any other that grew near seemed equally acceptable. Hence has probably arisen the long list of plants; such as the Ophioxylon serpentinum and Ophiorhiza mungos, the Aristolochia Indica, the Mimosa octandru, and others, each of which has been asserted to be the ichneumon's specific; whilst their multiplicity is demonstrative of the non-existence of any one in particular to which the animal resorts for an antidote. Were there any truth in the tale as regards the mongoos, it would be difficult to understand, why other creatures, such as the secretary bird and the falcon, which equally destroy serpents, should be left defenceless, and the ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. Besides, were the ichneumon inspired by that courage which would result from the consciousness of security, it would be so indifferent to the bite of the serpent, that we might conclude that, both in its approaches and its assault, it would be utterly careless as to the precise mode of its attack. Such, however, is far from being the case; and next to its audacity, nothing is more surprising than the adroitness with which it escapes the spring of the snake under a due sense of danger, and the cunning with which it makes its arrangements to leap upon the back and fasten its teeth in the head of the cobra. It is this display of instinctive ingenuity that Lucan[2] celebrates where he paints the ichneumon diverting the attention of the asp, by the motion of his bushy tale, and then seizing it in the midst of its confusion.

[Footnote 1: Herpestes vitticollis. Mr. W. ELLIOTT, in his Catalogue of Mammalia found in the Southern Maharata Country, Madras, 1840, says, that "One specimen of this Herpestes was procured by accident in the Ghat forests in 1829, and is now deposited in the British Museum; it is very rare, inhabiting only the thickest woods, and its habits are very little known," p. 9. In Ceylon, it is comparatively common.]

[Footnote 2: The passage in Lucan is a versification of the same narrative related by Pliny, lib. viii. ch. 35; and AElian, lib. iii. ch. 22.]

"Aspidas ut Pharias cauda solertior hostis Ludit, et iratas incerta provocat umbra: Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras Effusae toto comprendit guttura morsu Letiferam citra saniem; tune irrita pestis Exprimitur, faucesque fluunt pereunte veneno."

Pharsalia, lib. iv. v. 729.

The mystery of the mongoos and its antidote has been referred to the supposition that there may be some peculiarity in its organisation which renders it proof against the poison of the serpent. It remains for future investigation to determine how far this conjecture is founded in truth; and whether in the blood of the mongoos there exists any element or quality which acts as a prophylactic. Such exceptional provisions are not without precedent in the animal oeconomy: the hornbill feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the strychnos; the milky juice of some species of euphorbia, which is harmless to oxen, is invariably fatal to the zebra; and the tsetse fly, the pest of South Africa, whose bite is mortal to the ox, the dog, and the horse, is harmless to man and the untamed creatures of the forest.[1]

[Footnote 1: Dr. LIVINGSTONE, Tour in S. Africa, p. 80. Is it a fact that in America, pigs extirpate the rattlesnakes with impunity?]

The Singhalese distinguish one species of mongoos, which they designate "Hotambeya," and which they assert never preys upon serpents. A writer in the Ceylon Miscellany mentions, that they are often to be seen "crossing rivers and frequenting mud-brooks near Chilaw; the adjacent thickets affording them shelter, and their food consisting of aquatic reptiles, crabs, and mollusca."[1]

[Footnote 1: This is possibly the "musbilai" or mouse-cat of Behar, which preys upon birds and fish. Could it be the Urva of the Nepalese (Urva cancrivora, Hodgson), which Mr. Hodgson describes as dwelling in burrows, and being carnivorous and ranivorous?—Vide Journ. As. Soc. Beng., vol. vi. p. 56.]

IV. RODENTIA. Squirrels.—Smaller animals in great numbers enliven the forests and lowland plains with their graceful movements. Squirrels[1], of which there are a great variety, make their shrill metallic call heard at early morning in the woods, and when sounding their note of warning on the approach of a civet or a tree-snake, the ears tingle with the loud trill of defiance, which rings as clear and rapid as the running down of an alarum, and is instantly caught up and re-echoed from every side by their terrified playmates.

[Footnote 1: Of two kinds which frequent the mountains, one which is peculiar to Ceylon was discovered by Mr. Edgar L. Layard, who has done me the honour to call it the Sciurus Tennentii. Its dimensions are large, measuring upwards of two feet from head to tail. It is distinguished from the S. macrurus by the predominant black colour of the upper surface of the body, with the exception of a rusty spot at the base of the ears.]

One of the largest, belonging to a closely allied subgenus, is known as the "Flying Squirrel,"[1] from its being assisted in its prodigious leaps from tree to tree, by the parachute formed by the skin of the flanks, which on the extension of the limbs front and rear, is laterally expanded from foot to foot. Thus buoyed up in its descent, the spring which it is enabled to make from one lofty tree to another resembles the flight of a bird rather than the bound of a quadruped. Of these pretty creatures there are two species, one common to Ceylon and India, the other (Sciuropterus Layardii, Kelaart) is peculiar to the island, and is by far the most beautiful of the family.

[Footnote 1: Pteromys oral., Tickel. P. petaurista, Pallas.]

Rats.—Among the multifarious inhabitants to which the forest affords at once a home and provender is the tree rat[1], which forms its nest on the branches, and by turns makes its visits to the dwellings of the natives, frequenting the ceilings in preference to the lower parts of houses. Here it is incessantly followed by the rat-snake[2], whose domestication is encouraged by the native servants, in consideration of its services in destroying vermin. I had one day an opportunity of surprising a snake which had just seized on a rat of this description, and of covering it suddenly with a glass shade, before it had time to swallow its prey. The serpent, which appeared stunned by its own capture, allowed the rat to escape from its jaws, which cowered at one side of the glass in the most pitiable state of trembling terror. The two were left alone for some moments, and on my return to them the snake was as before in the same attitude of sullen stupor. On setting them at liberty, the rat bounded towards the nearest fence; but quick as lightning it was followed by its pursuer, which seized it before it could gain the hedge, through which I saw the snake glide with its victim in its jaws.

[Footnote 1: There are two species of the tree rat in Ceylon: M. rufescens, Gray; (M. flavescens; Elliot;) and Mus nemoralis, Blyth.]

[Footnote 2: Coryphodon Blumenbachii.]

Another indigenous variety of the rat is that which made its appearance for the first time in the coffee plantations on the Kandyan hills in the year 1847, and in such swarms does it infest them, that as many as a thousand have been killed in a single day on one estate. In order to reach the buds and blossoms of the coffee, it cuts such slender branches, as would not sustain its weight, and feeds as they fall to the ground; and so delicate and sharp are its incisors, that the twigs thus destroyed are detached by as clean a cut as if severed with a knife. The coffee-rat[1] is an insular variety of the Mus hirsutus of W. Elliot, found in Southern India. They inhabit the forests, making their nests among the roots of the trees, and like the lemmings of Norway and Lapland, they migrate in vast numbers on the occurrence of a scarcity of their ordinary food. The Malabar coolies are so fond of their flesh, that they evince a preference for those districts in which the coffee plantations are subject to these incursions, where they fry the rats in oil, or convert them into curry.

[Footnote 1: Golunda Ellioti, Gray.]

Bandicoot.—Another favourite article of food with the coolies is the pig-rat or Bandicoot[1], which attains on those hills the weight of two or three pounds, and grows to nearly the length of two feet. As it feeds on grain and roots, its flesh is said to be delicate, and much resembling young pork. Its nests, when rifled, are frequently found to contain considerable quantities of rice, stored up against the dry season.

[Footnote 1: Mus bandicota, Beckst. The English term bandicoot is a corruption of the Telinga name pandikoku, literally pig-rat.]

Porcupine.—The Porcupine[1] is another of the rodentia which has drawn down upon itself the hostility of the planters, from its destruction of the young coco-nut palms, to which it is a pernicious and persevering, but withal so crafty, a visitor, that it is with difficulty any trap can be so disguised, or any bait made so alluring, as to lead to its capture. The usual expedient is to place some of its favourite food at the extremity of a trench, so narrow as to prevent the porcupine turning, whilst the direction of his quills effectually bars his retreat. On a newly planted coco-nut tope, at Hang-welle, within a few miles of Colombo, I have heard of as many as twenty-seven being thus captured in a single night; but such success is rare. The more ordinary expedient is to smoke them out by burning straw at the apertures of their burrows. The flesh is esteemed a delicacy in Ceylon, and in consistency, colour, and flavour, it very much resembles that of a young pig.

[Footnote 1: Hystrix leucurus, Sykes.]

V. EDENTATA, Pengolin.—Of the Edentata the only example in Ceylon is the scaly ant-eater, called by the Singhalese, Caballaya, but usually known by its Malay name of Pengolin[1], a word indicative of its faculty of "rolling itself up" into a compact ball, by bending its head towards its stomach, arching its back into a circle, and securing all by a powerful fold of its mail-covered tail. The feet of the pengolin are armed with powerful claws, which they double in in walking like the ant-eater of Brazil. These they use in extracting their favourite food, the termites, from ant-hills and decaying wood. When at liberty, they burrow in the dry ground to a depth of seven or eight feet, where they reside in pairs, and produce annually one or two young.

[Footnote 1: Manis pentadactyla, Linn.]

Of two specimens which I kept alive at different times, one from the vicinity of Kandy, about two feet in length, was a gentle and affectionate creature, which, after wandering over the house in search of ants, would attract attention to its wants by climbing up my knee, laying hold of my leg with its prehensile tail. The other, more than double that length, was caught in the jungle near Chilaw, and brought to me in Colombo. I had always understood that the pengolin was unable to climb trees; but the one last mentioned frequently ascended a tree in my garden, in search of ants, and this it effected by means of its hooked feet, aided by an oblique grasp of the tail. The ants it seized by extending its round and glutinous tongue along their tracks. In both, the scales of the back were a cream-coloured white, with a tinge of red in the specimen which came from Chilaw, probably acquired by the insinuation of the Cabook dust which abounds along the western coast of the island. Generally speaking, they were quiet during the day, and grew restless as evening and night approached.

VI. RUMINATA. The Gaur.—Besides the deer and some varieties of the humped ox, which have been introduced from the opposite continent of India, Ceylon has probably but one other indigenous ruminant., the buffalo.[1] There is a tradition that the gaur, found in the extremity of the Indian peninsula, was at one period a native of the Kandyan mountains; but as Knox speaks of one which in his time "was kept among the king's creatures" at Kandy[2], and his account of it tallies with that of the Bos Gaurus of Hindustan, it would appear even then to have been a rarity. A place between Neuera-ellia and Adam's Peak bears the name of Gowra-ellia, and it is not impossible that the animal may yet be discovered in some of the imperfectly explored regions of the island.[3] I have heard of an instance in which a very old Kandyan, residing in the mountains near the Horton Plains, asserted that when young he had seen what he believed to have been a gaur, and which he described as between an elk and a buffalo in size, dark brown in colour, and very scantily provided with hair.

[Footnote 1: Bubalus buffelus; Gray.]

[Footnote 2: Historical Relation of Ceylon, &c., A.D. 1681. Book i. c, 6.]

[Footnote 3: KELAART, Fauna Zeylan., p. 87.]

Oxen.—Oxen are used by the peasantry both in ploughing and in tempering the mud in the wet paddi fields before sowing the rice; and when the harvest is reaped they "tread out the corn," after the immemorial custom of the East. The wealth of the native chiefs and landed proprietors frequently consists in their herds of bullocks, which they hire out to their dependents during the seasons for agricultural labour; and as they already supply them with land to be tilled, and lend the seed which is to crop it, the further contribution of this portion of the labour serves to render the dependence of the peasantry on the chiefs and head-men complete.

The cows are worked equally with the oxen; and as the calves are always permitted to suck them, milk is an article which the traveller can rarely hope to procure in a Kandyan village. From their constant exposure at all seasons, the cattle in Ceylon, both those employed in agriculture and on the roads, are subject to the most devastating murrains, which sweep them away by thousands. So frequent is the recurrence of these calamities, and so extended their ravages, that they exercise a serious influence over the commercial interests of the colony, by reducing the facilities of agriculture, and augmenting the cost of carriage during the most critical periods of the coffee season.

A similar disorder, probably peripneumonia, frequently carries off the cattle in Assam and other hill countries on the continent of India; and there, as in Ceylon, the inflammatory symptoms in the lungs and throat, and the internal derangement and external eruptive appearances, seem to indicate that the disease is a feverish influenza, attributable to neglect and exposure in a moist and variable climate; and that its prevention might be hoped for, and the cattle preserved by the simple expedient of more humane and considerate treatment, especially by affording them cover at night.

During my residence in Ceylon an incident occurred at Neuera-ellia, which invested one of these pretty animals with an heroic interest. A little cow, belonging to an English gentleman, was housed, together with her calf, near the dwelling of her owner, and being aroused during the night by her furious bellowing, the servants, on hastening to the stall, found her goring a leopard, which had stolen in to attack the calf. She had got him into a corner, and whilst lowing incessantly to call for help, she continued to pound him with her horns. The wild animal, apparently stupified by her unexpected violence, was detained by her till despatched by a gun.

The Buffalo.—Buffaloes abound in all parts of Ceylon, but they are only to be seen in their native wildness in the vast solitudes of the northern and eastern provinces, where rivers, lagoons, and dilapidated tanks abound. In these they delight to immerse themselves, till only their heads appear above the surface; or, enveloped in mud to protect themselves from the assaults of insects, luxuriate in the long sedges by the water margins.

When the buffalo is browsing, a crow will frequently be seen stationed on his back, engaged in freeing it from the ticks and other pests which attach themselves to his leathery hide, the smooth brown surface of which, unprotected by hair, shines with an unpleasant polish in the sunlight. When in motion he throws back his clumsy head till the huge horns rest on his shoulders, and the nose is presented in a line with the eyes. When wild they are at all times uncertain in disposition, but so frequently savage that it is never quite safe to approach them, if disturbed in their pasture or alarmed from their repose in the shallow lakes. On such occasions they hurry into line, draw up in defensive array, with a few of the oldest bulls in advance; and, wheeling in circles, their horns clashing with a loud sound as they clank them together in their rapid evolutions, the herd betakes itself to flight. Then forming again at a safer distance, they halt as before, elevating their nostrils, and throwing back their heads to take a cautious survey of the intruders. The sportsman rarely molests them, so huge a creature affording no worthy mark for his skill, and their wanton slaughter adding nothing to the supply of food for their assailant.

In the Hambangtotte country, where the Singhalese domesticate the buffaloes, and use them to assist in the labour of the rice lands, the villagers are much annoyed by the wild ones, which mingle with the tame when sent out to the woods to pasture; and it constantly happens that a savage stranger, placing himself at the head of the tame herd, resists the attempts of the owners to drive them homewards at sunset. In the districts of Putlam and the Seven Corles, buffaloes are generally used for draught; and in carrying heavy loads of salt from the coast towards the interior, they drag a cart over roads which would defy the weaker strength of bullocks.

In one place between Batticaloa and Trincomalie I found the natives making an ingenious use of them when engaged in shooting water-fowl in the vast salt marshes and muddy lakes. Being an object to which the birds are accustomed, the Singhalese train the buffalo to the sport, and, concealed behind, the animal browsing listlessly along, they guide it by ropes attached to its horns, and thus creep undiscovered within shot of the flock. The same practice prevails, I believe, in some of the northern parts of India, where they are similarly trained to assist the sportsman in approaching deer. One of these "sporting buffaloes" sells for a considerable sum.

The buffalo, like the elk, is sometimes found in Ceylon as an albino, with purely white hair and pink iris. There is a peculiarity in the formation of its foot, which, though it must have attracted attention, I have never seen mentioned by naturalists. It is equivalent to an arrangement that distinguishes the foot of the reindeer from that of the stag and the antelope. In them, the hoofs, being constructed for lightness and flight, are compact and vertical; but, in the reindeer, the joints of the tarsal bones admit of lateral expansion, and the broad hoofs curve upwards in front, while the two secondary ones behind (which are but slightly developed in the fallow deer and others of the same family) are prolonged till, in certain positions, they are capable of being applied to the ground, thus adding to the circumference and sustaining power of the foot. It has been usually suggested as the probable design of this structure, that it is to enable the reindeer to shovel under the snow in order to reach the lichens beneath it; but I apprehend that another use of it has been overlooked, that of facilitating its movements in search of food by increasing the difficulty of its sinking in the snow.

A formation precisely analogous in the buffalo seems to point to a corresponding design. The ox, whose life is spent on firm ground, has the bones of the foot so constructed as to afford the most solid support to an animal of its great weight; but in the buffalo, which delights in the morasses on the margins of pools and rivers, the formation of the foot resembles that of the reindeer. The tarsi in front extend almost horizontally from the upright bones of the leg, and spread widely on touching the ground; the hoofs are flattened and broad, with the extremities turned upwards; and the false hoofs descend behind till, in walking, they make a clattering sound. In traversing the marshes, this combination of abnormal incidents serves to give extraordinary breadth to the foot, and not only prevents the buffalo from sinking inconveniently in soft ground[1], but at the same time presents no obstacle to the withdrawal of his foot from the mud.

[Footnote 1: PROFESSOR OWEN has noticed a similar fact regarding the rudiments of the second and fifth digits in the instance of the elk and bison, which have them largely expanded where they inhabit swampy ground; whilst they are nearly obliterated in the camel and dromedary, which traverse arid deserts.—OWEN on Limbs, p. 34; see also BELL on the Hand, ch. iii.]

Deer.—"Deer," says the truthful old chronicler, Robert Knox, "are in great abundance in the woods, from the largeness of a cow to the smallness of a hare, for here is a creature in this land no bigger than the latter, though every part rightly resembleth a deer: it is called meminna, of a grey colour, with white spots and good meat."[1] The little creature which thus dwelt in the recollection of the old man, as one of the memorials of his long captivity, is the small "musk deer"[2] so called in India, although neither sex is provided with a musk-bag; and the Europeans in Ceylon know it by the name of the moose deer. Its extreme length never reaches two feet; and of those which were domesticated about my house, few exceeded ten inches in height, their graceful limbs being of similar delicate proportion. It possesses long and extremely large tusks, with which it inflicts a severe bite. The interpreter moodliar of Negombo had a milk white meminna in 1847, which he designed to send home as an acceptable present to Her Majesty, but it was unfortunately killed by an accident.[3]

[Footnote 1: KNOX'S Relation, &c., book i. c. 6.]

[Footnote 2: Moschus meminna.]

[Footnote 3: When the English took possession of Kandy, in 1803, they found "five beautiful milk-white deer in the palace, which was noted as a very extraordinary thing."—Letter in Appendix to PERCIVAL'S Ceylon, p. 428. The writer does not say of what species they were.]

Ceylon Elk.—In the mountains, the Ceylon elk[1], which reminds one of the red deer of Scotland, attains the height of four or five feet; it abounds in all places which are intersected by shady rivers; where, though its hunting affords an endless resource to the sportsmen, its venison scarcely equals in quality the inferior beef of the lowland ox. In the glades and park-like openings that diversify the great forests of the interior, the spotted Axis troops in herds as numerous as the fallow deer in England; and, in journeys through the jungle, when often dependent on the guns of our party for the precarious supply of the table, we found the flesh of the Axis[2] and the Muntjac[3] a sorry substitute for that of the pea-fowl, the jungle-cock, and flamingo. The occurrence of albinos is very frequent in troops of the axis. Deer's horns are an article of export from Ceylon, and considerable quantities are annually sent to the United Kingdom.

[Footnote 1: Rusa Aristotelis. Dr. GRAY has lately shown that this is the great axis of Cuvier.—Oss. Foss. 502, t. 39, f. 10. The Singhalese, on following the elk, frequently effect their approaches by so imitating the call of the animal as to induce them to respond. An instance occurred during my residence in Ceylon, in which two natives, whose mimicry had mutually deceived them, crept so close together in the jungle that one shot the other, supposing the cry to proceed from the game.]

[Footnote 2: Axis maculata, H. Smith.]

[Footnote 3: Stylocerus muntjac, Horsf.]

VII. PACHYDERMATA. The Elephant.—The elephant and the wild boar, the Singhalese "waloora," are the only representatives of the pachydermatous order. The latter, which differs in no respect from the wild boar of India, is found in droves in all parts of the island where vegetation and water are abundant. The elephant, the lord paramount of the Ceylon forests, is to be met with in every district, on the confines of the woods, in whose depths he finds concealment and shade during the hours when the sun is high, and from which he emerges only at twilight to wend his way towards the rivers and tanks, where he luxuriates till dawn, when he again seeks the retirement of the deep forests. This noble animal fills so dignified a place both in the zoology and oeconomy of Ceylon, and his habits in a state of nature have been so much misunderstood, that I shall devote a separate section to his defence from misrepresentation, and to an exposition of what, from observation and experience, I believe to be his genuine character when free in his native domains.

VIII. CETACEA.—Among the Cetacea the occurrence of the Dugong[1] on various points of the coast, and especially on the western side of the island, will be noticed elsewhere; and whales are so frequently seen that they have been captured within sight of Colombo, and more than once their carcases, after having been flinched by the whalers, have floated on shore near the light-house, tainting the atmosphere within the fort by their rapid decomposition.

[Footnote 1: Halicore dugong, F. Cuv.]

From this sketch of the Mammalia it will be seen that, in its general features, this branch of the Fauna bears a striking resemblance to that of Southern India, although many of the larger animals of the latter are unknown in Ceylon; and, on the other hand, some species discovered there are altogether peculiar to the island. A deer[1] as large as the Axis, but differing from it in the number and arrangement of its spots, has been described by Dr. Kelaart, to whose vigilance the natural history of Ceylon is indebted, amongst others, for the identification of two new species of monkeys[2], a number of curious shrews[3], and an orange-coloured ichneumon[4], before unknown. There are also two descriptions of squirrels[5] that have not as yet been discovered elsewhere, one of them belonging to those equipped with a parachute[6], as well as some local varieties of the palm squirrel (Sciurus penicillatus, Leach).[7]

[Footnote 1: Cervus orizus, KELAART, Prod. F. Zeyl., p. 83.]

[Footnote 2: Presbytes ursinus, Blyth, and P. Thersites, Elliot.]

[Footnote 3: Sorex montanus, S. ferrugineus, and Feroculus macropus.]

[Footnote 4: Herpestes fulvescens, KELAART, Prod. Fann. Zeylan., App. p. 42.]

[Footnote 5: Sciurus Tennentii, Layard.]

[Footnote 6: Sciuropterus Layardi, Kelaart.]

[Footnote 7: There is a rat found only in the Cinnamon Gardens at Colombo, Mus Ceylonus, Kelaart; and a mouse which Dr. Kelaart discovered at Trincomalie, M. fulvidi-ventris, Blyth, both peculiar to Ceylon. Dr. TEMPLETON has noticed a little shrew (Corsira purpurascens, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1855, p. 238) at Neuera-ellia, not as yet observed elsewhere.]

But the Ceylon Mammalia, besides wanting a number of minor animals found in the Indian peninsula, cannot boast such a ruminant as the majestic Gaur[1], which inhabits the great forests from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya; and, providentially, the island is equally free of the formidable tiger and the ferocious wolf of Hindustan.

[Footnote 1: Bos cavifrons, Hodgs, B. frontalis, Lamb.]

The Hyena and Cheetah[1], common in Southern India, are unknown in Ceylon; and though abundant in deer, the island possesses no example of the Antelope or the Gazelle.

[Footnote 1: Felis jubata, Schreb.]

List of Ceylon Mammalia.

A list of the Mammalia of Ceylon is subjoined. In framing it, as well as the lists appended to other chapters on the Fauna of the island, the principal object in view has been to exhibit the extent to which its natural history had been investigated, and collections made up to the period of my leaving the colony in 1850. It has been considered expedient to exclude a few individuals which have not had the advantage of a direct comparison with authentic specimens, either at Calcutta or in England. This will account for the omission of a number which have appeared in other catalogues, but of which many, though ascertained to exist, have not been submitted to this rigorous process of identification.

The greater portion of the species of mammals and birds contained in these lists will be found, with suitable references to the most accurate descriptions, in the admirable catalogue of the collection at the India House, now in course of publication under the care of Dr. Horsfield. This work cannot be too highly extolled, not alone for the scrupulous fidelity with which the description of each species is referred to its first discoverer, but also for the pains which have been taken to elaborate synonymes and to collate from local periodicals and other sources, little accessible to ordinary inquirers, such incidents and traits as are calculated to illustrate characteristics and habits.

Quadrumana.

Presbytes cephalopterus, Zimm. ursinus, Blyth. Priamus, Elliot & Blyth. Thersites, Blyth. Macacus pileatus, Shaw & Desm. Loris gracilis, Geoff.

Cheiroptera.

Pteropus Edwardsii, Geoff. Leschenaultii, Dum. Cynopterus marginatus, Hamilt. Megaderma spasma, Linn. lyra, Geoff. Rhinolophus affinis, Horsf. Hipposideros murinus, Elliot. speoris, Elliot. armiger, Hodgs. vulgaris, Horsf. Kerivoula picta, Pall. Taphozous longimanus, Hardw. Scotophilus Coromandelicus, F. Cuv. adversus, Horsf. Temminkii, Horsf. Tickelli, Blyth. Heathii.

Carnivora.

Sorex coerulescens, Shaw. ferrugincus, Kelaart. serpentarius, Is. Geoff. montanus, Kelaart. Feroculus macropus, Kelaart. Ursus labiatus, Blainv. Lutra nair, F. Cuv. Canis aureus, Linn. Viverra Indica, Geoff., Hodgs. Cynictis Maccarthiae, Gray. Herpestes vitticollis, Benn. griseus, Gm. Smithii, Gray. fulvescens, Kelaart. Paradoxurus typus, F. Cuv. Ceylonicus, Pall. Felis pardus, Linn. chaus, Guldens. viverrinus, Benn.

Rodentia.

Sciurus macrurus, Forst. Tennentii, Layard. penicillatus, Leach. trilineatus, Waterh. Sciuropterus Layardi, Kelaart. Pteromys petaurista, Pall. Mus bandicota, Bechst. Kok, Gray. rufescens, Gray. nemoralis, Blyth. Indicus, Geoff. fulvidiventris, Blyth. Nesoki Hardwickii, Gray. Golunda Neuera, Kelaart. Ellioti, Gray. Gerbillus Indicus, Hardw. Lepus nigricollis, F. Cuv. Hystrix leucurus, Sykes.

Edentata.

Manis pentadactyla, Linn.

Pachydermata.

Elephas Indicus, Linn. Sus Indicus, Gray. Zeylonicus, Blyth.

Ruminantia.

Moschus meminna, Erxl. Stylocerus muntjac, Horsf. Axis maculata, H. Smith. Rusa Aristotelis, Cuv.

Cetacea.

Halicore dugung, F. Cuv.



NOTE (A.)

Parasite of the Bat.

One of the most curious peculiarities connected with the bats is their singular parasite, the Nycteribia.[1] On cursory observation, this creature appears to have neither head, antennae, eyes, nor mouth; and the earlier observers of its structure assured themselves that the place of the latter was supplied by a cylindrical sucker, which, being placed between the shoulders, the creature had no option but to turn on its back to feed. This apparent inconvenience was thought to have been compensated for by another anomaly: its three pairs of legs, armed with claws, being so arranged that they seemed to be equally distributed over its upper and under sides, the creature being thus enabled to use them like hands, and to grasp the strong hairs above it while extracting its nourishment. It moves by rolling itself rapidly along, rotating like a wheel on the extremities of its spokes, or like the clown in a pantomime hurling himself forward on hands and feet alternately. Its celerity is so great that Colonel Montague, who was one of the first to describe it minutely[2], says its speed exceeds that of any known insect, and as its joints are so flexible as to yield in every direction (like what mechanics call a "ball and socket"), its motions are exceedingly grotesque as it tumbles through the fur of the bat.

[Footnote 1: This extraordinary creature had formerly been discovered only on a few European bats. Joinville figured one which he found on the large roussette (the flying-fox), and says he had seen another on a bat of the same family. Dr. Templeton observed them in Ceylon in great abundance on the fur of the Scotophilus Coromandelicus, and they will, no doubt, be found on many others.]

[Footnote 2: Celeripes vespertilionis, Mont. Lin. Trans, xi. p. 11.]

To enable it to attain its marvellous velocity, each foot is armed with two sharp hooks, with elastic pads opposed to them, so that the hair can not only be rapidly seized and firmly held, but as quickly disengaged as the creature whirls away in its headlong career.

The insects to which it hears the nearest affinity are the Hippoboscidae or "spider flies," that infest birds and horses, but, unlike them, it is unable to fly.

Its strangest peculiarity, and that which gave rise to the belief that it is headless, is its faculty when at rest of throwing back its head and pressing it close between its shoulders till the under side becomes uppermost, not a vestige of head being discernible where we would naturally look for it, and the whole seeming but a casual inequality on its back.

On closer examination this apparent tubercle is found to have a leathery attachment like a flexible neck, and by a sudden jerk the little creature is enabled to project it forward into its normal position, when it is discovered to be furnished with a mouth, antennae, and four eyes, two on each side.

The organisation of such an insect is a marvellous adaptation of physical form to special circumstances. As the nycteribia has to make its way through fur and hairs, its feet are furnished with prehensile hooks that almost convert them into hands; and being obliged to conform to the sudden flights of its patron, and accommodate itself to inverted positions, all attitudes are rendered alike to it by the arrangement of its limbs, which enables it, after every possible gyration, to find itself always on its feet.



CHAP. II.

BIRDS.

Of the Birds of the island, upwards of three hundred and twenty species have been indicated, for which we are indebted to the persevering labours of Dr. Templeton, Dr. Kelaart, and Mr. Layard; but many yet remain to be identified. In fact, to the eye of a stranger, their prodigious numbers, and especially the myriads of waterfowl which, notwithstanding the presence of the crocodiles, people the lakes and marshes in the eastern provinces, form one of the marvels of Ceylon.

In the glory of their plumage, the birds of the interior are surpassed by those of South America and Northern India; and the melody of their song will bear no comparison with that of the warblers of Europe, but the want of brilliancy is compensated by their singular grace of form, and the absence of prolonged and modulated harmony by the rich and melodious tones of their clear and musical calls. In the elevations of the Kandyan country there are a few, such as the robin of Neuera-ellia[1] and the long-tailed thrush[2], whose song rivals that of their European namesakes; but, far beyond the attraction of their notes, the traveller rejoices in the flute-like voices of the Oriole, the Dayal-bird[3], and some others equally charming; when, at the first dawn of day, they wake the forest with their clear reveille.

[Footnote 1: Pratincola atrata, Kelaart.]

[Footnote 2: Kittacincla macroura, Gm.]

[Footnote 3: Copsychus saularis, Linn. Called by the Europeans in Ceylon the "Magpie Robin." This is not to be confounded with the other popular favourite, the "Indian Robin" (Thamnobia fulicata, Linn.), which is "never seen in the unfrequented jungle, but, like the coco-nut palm, which the Singhalese assert will only flourish within the sound of the human voice, it is always found near the habitations of men."—E.L. LAYARD.]

It is only on emerging from the dense forests, and coming into the vicinity of the lakes and pasture of the low country, that birds become visible in great quantities. In the close jungle one occasionally hears the call of the copper-smith[1], or the strokes of the great orange-coloured woodpecker[2] as it beats the decaying trees in search of insects, whilst clinging to the bark with its finely-pointed claws, and leaning for support upon the short stiff feathers of its tail. And on the lofty branches of the higher trees, the hornbill[3] (the toucan of the East), with its enormous double casque, sits to watch the motions of the tiny reptiles and smaller birds on which it preys, tossing them into the air when seized, and catching them in its gigantic mandibles as they fall.[4] The remarkable excrescence on the beak of this extraordinary bird may serve to explain the statement of the Minorite friar Odoric, of Portenau in Friuli, who travelled in Ceylon in the fourteenth century, and brought suspicion on the veracity of his narrative by asserting that he had there seen "birds with two heads."[5]

[Footnote 1: The greater red-headed Barbet (Megalaima indica, Lath.; M. Philippensis, var. A. Lath.), the incessant din of which resembles the blows of a smith hammering a cauldron.]

[Footnote 2: Brachypternus aurantius, Linn.]

[Footnote 3: Buceros pica, Scop.; B. coronata, Bodd. The natives assert that B. pica builds in holes in the trees, and that when incubation has fairly commenced, the female takes her seat on the eggs, and the male closes up the orifice by which she entered, leaving only a small aperture through which he feeds his partner, whilst she successfully guards their treasures from the monkey tribes; her formidable bill nearly filling the entire entrance. See a paper by Edgar L. Layard, Esq. Mag. Nat. Hist. March, 1853. Dr. Horsfield had previously observed the same habit in a species of Buceros in Java. (See HORSFIELD and MOORE'S Catal. Birds, E.I. Comp. Mus. vol. ii.) It is curious that a similar trait, though necessarily from very different instincts, is exhibited by the termites, who literally build a cell round the great progenitrix of the community, and feed her through apertures.]

[Footnote 4: The hornbill is also frugivorous, and the natives assert that when endeavouring to detach a fruit, if the stem is too tough to be severed by his mandibles, he flings himself off the branch so as to add the weight of his body to the pressure of his beak. The hornbill abounds in Cuttack, and bears there the name of "Kuchila-Kai," or Kuchila-eater, from its partiality for the fruit of the Strychnus nux-vomica. The natives regard its flesh as a sovereign specific for rheumatic affections.—Asiat. Res. ch. xv. p. 184.]

[Footnote 5: Itinerarius FRATRIS ODORICI, de Foro Julii de Portu-vahonis.—HAKLUYT, vol. ii. p. 39.]

As we emerge from the deep shade and approach the park-like openings on the verge of the low country, quantities of pea-fowl are to be found either feeding amongst the seeds and nuts in the long grass or sunning themselves on the branches of the surrounding trees. Nothing to be met with in demesnes in England can give an adequate idea either of the size or the magnificence of this matchless bird when seen in his native solitudes. Here he generally selects some projecting branch, from which his plumage may hang free of the foliage, and, if there be a dead and leafless bough, he is certain to choose it for his resting-place, whence he droops his wings and suspends his gorgeous train, or spreads it in the morning sun to drive off the damps and dews of the night.

In some of the unfrequented portions of the eastern province, to which Europeans rarely resort, and where the pea-fowl are unmolested by the natives, their number is so extraordinary that, regarded as game, it ceases to be a "sport" to destroy them; and their cries at early morning are so tumultuous and incessant as to banish sleep, and amount to an actual inconvenience. Their flesh is excellent when served up hot, though it is said to be indigestible; but, when cold, it contracts a reddish and disagreeable tinge.

But of all, the most astonishing in point of multitude, as well as the most interesting from their endless variety, are the myriads of aquatic birds and waders which frequent the lakes and watercourses; especially those along the coast near Batticaloa, between the mainland and the sand formations of the shore, and the innumerable salt marshes and lagoons to the south of Trincomalie. These, and the profusion of perching birds, fly-catchers, finches, and thrushes, which appear in the open country, afford sufficient quarry for the raptorial and predatory species—eagles, hawks, and falcons—whose daring sweeps and effortless undulations are striking objects in the cloudless sky.

I. ACCIPITRES. Eagles.—The Eagles, however, are small, and as compared with other countries rare; except, perhaps, the crested eagle[1], which haunts the mountain provinces and the lower hills, disquieting the peasantry by its ravages amongst their poultry; and the gloomy serpent eagle[2], which, descending from its eyrie in the lofty jungle, and uttering a loud and plaintive cry, sweeps cautiously around the lonely tanks and marshes, where it feeds upon the reptiles on their margin. The largest eagle is the great sea Erne[3], seen on the northern coasts and the salt lakes of the eastern provinces, particularly when the receding tide leaves bare an expanse of beach, over which it hunts, in company with the fishing eagle[4], sacred to Siva. Unlike its companions, however, the sea eagle rejects garbage for living prey, and especially for the sea snakes which abound on the northern coasts. These it seizes by descending with its wings half closed, and, suddenly darting down its talons, it soars aloft again with its writhing victim.[5]

[Footnote 1: Spizaetus limnaetus, Horsf.]

[Footnote 2: Haematornis cheela, Daud.]

[Footnote 3: Pontoaetus leucogaster, Gmel.]

[Footnote 4: Haliastur indus, Bodd.]

[Footnote 5: E.L. Layard. Europeans have given this bird the name of the "Brahminy Kite," probably from observing the superstitious feeling of the natives regarding it, who believe that when two armies are about to engage, its appearance prognosticates victory to the party over whom it hovers.]

Hawks.—The beautiful Peregrine Falcon[1] is rare, but the Kestrel[2] is found almost universally; and the bold and daring Goshawk[3] wherever wild crags and precipices afford safe breeding places. In the district of Anarajapoora, where it is trained for hawking, it is usual, in lieu of a hood, to darken its eyes by means of a silken thread passed through holes in the eyelids. The ignoble birds of prey, the Kites[4], keep close by the shore, and hover round the returning boats of the fishermen to feast on the fry rejected from their nets.

[Footnote 1: Falco peregrinus, Linn.]

[Footnote 2: Tinnunculus alaudarius, Briss.]

[Footnote 3: Astur trivirgatus, Temm.]

[Footnote 4: Milvus govinda, Sykes. Dr. Hamilton Buchanan remarks that when gorged this bird delights to sit on the entablature of buildings, exposing its back to the hottest rays of the sun, placing its breast against the wall, and stretching out its wings exactly as the Egyptian Hawk is represented on their monuments.]

Owls.—Of the nocturnal accipitres the most remarkable is the brown owl, which, from its hideous yell, has acquired the name of the "Devil-Bird."[l] The Singhalese regard it literally with horror, and its scream by night in the vicinity of a village is bewailed as the harbinger of approaching calamity.

[Footnote 1: Syrnium indranee, Sykes. The horror of this nocturnal scream was equally prevalent in the West as in the East. Ovid Introduces it in his Fasti, L. vi. 1. 139; and Tibullus in his Elegies, L.i. El 5. Statius says—

"Nocturnae-que gemunt striges, et feralia bubo Danna canens." Theb. iii. I. 511.

But Pliny, 1. xi. c. 93, doubts as to what bird produced the sound; and the details of Ovid's description do not apply to an owl.

Mr. Mitford, of the Ceylon Civil Service, to whom I am indebted for many valuable notes relative to the birds of the island, regards the identification of the Singhalese Devil-Bird as open to similar doubt: he says—"The Devil-Bird is not am owl. I never heard it until I came to Kornegalle, where it haunts the rocky hill at the back of Government-House. Its ordinary note is a magnificent clear shout like that of a human being, and which can be heard at a great distance, and has a fine effect in the silence of the closing night. It has another cry like that of a hen just caught, but the sounds which have earned for it its bad name, and which I have heard but once to perfection, are indescribable, the most appalling that can be imagined, and scarcely to be heard without shuddering; I can only compare it to a boy in torture, whose screams are being stopped by being strangled. I have offered rewards for a specimen, but without success. The only European who had seen and fired at one agreed with the natives that it is of the size of a pigeon, with a long tail. I believe it is a Podargus or Night Hawk," In a subsequent note he further says—"I have since seen two birds by moonlight, one of the size and shape of a cuckoo, the other a large black bird, which I imagine to be the one which gives these calls."]

II. PASSERES. Swallows.—Within thirty-five miles of Caltura, on the western coast, are inland caves, the resort of the Esculent Swift[1], which there builds the "edible bird's nest," so highly prized in China. Near the spot a few Chinese immigrants have established themselves, who rent the royalty from the government, and make an annual export of their produce. But the Swifts are not confined to this district, and caves containing them have been found far in the interior, a fact which complicates the still unexplained mystery of the composition of their nest; and notwithstanding the power of wing possessed by these birds, adds something to the difficulty of believing that it consists of glutinous algae.[2] In the nests brought to me there was no trace of organisation; and whatever may be the original material, it is so elaborated by the swallow as to present somewhat the appearance and consistency of strings of isinglass. The quantity of these nests exported from Ceylon is trifling.

[Footnote 1: Collocalia brevirostris, McClell.; C. nidifica, Gray.]

[Footnote 2: An epitome of what has been written on this subject will be found in Dr. Horsfield's Catalogue of the Birds in the E.I. Comp. Museum, vol. i. p. 101, etc.]

Kingfishers.—In solitary places, where no sound breaks the silence except the gurgle of the river as it sweeps round the rocks, the lonely Kingfisher sits upon an overhanging branch, his turquoise plumage hardly less intense in its lustre than the deep blue of the sky above him; and so intent is his watch upon the passing fish that intrusion fails to scare him from his post; the emblem of vigilance and patience.

Sun Birds.—In the gardens the Sun Birds[1] (known as the Humming Birds of Ceylon) hover all day long, attracted by the plants over which they hang, poised on their glittering wings, and inserting their curved beaks to extract the tiny insects that nestle in the flowers. Perhaps the most graceful of the birds of Ceylon in form and motions, and the most chaste in colouring, is that which Europeans call "the Bird of Paradise,"[2] and the natives "the Cotton Thief," from the circumstance that its tail consists of two long white feathers, which stream behind it as it flies, Mr. Layard says:—"I have often watched them, when seeking their insect prey, turn suddenly on their perch and whisk their long tails with a jerk over the bough, as if to protect them from injury."

[Footnote 1: Nectarina Zeylanica, Linn.]

[Footnote 2: Tchitrea paradisi, Linn.]

The Bulbul.—The Condatchee Bulbul[1], which, from the crest on its head, is called by the Singhalese the "Konda Coorola," or Tuft bird, is regarded by the natives as the most "game" of all birds; and the training it to fight was one of the duties entrusted by the Kings of Kandy to the Kooroowa, or Bird Head-man. For this purpose the Bulbul is taken from the nest as soon as the sex is distinguishable by the tufted crown; and being secured by a string, is taught to fly from hand to hand of its keeper. When pitted against an antagonist, such is the obstinate courage of this little creature that it will sink from exhaustion rather than release its hold. This propensity, and the ordinary character of its notes, render it impossible that the Bulbul of India can be identical with the Bulbul of Iran, the "Bird of a Thousand Songs,"[2] of which poets say that its delicate passion for the rose gives a plaintive character to its note.

[Footnote 1: Pycnonotus haemorrhous, Gmel.]

[Footnote 2: "Hazardasitaum," the Persian name for the bulbul. "The Persians," according to Zakary ben Mohamed al Caswini, "say the bulbul has a passion for the rose, and laments and cries when he sees it pulled."—OUSELEY'S Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 16. According to Pallas it is the true nightingale of Europe, Sylvia luscinia, which the Armenians call boulboul, and the Crim-Tartars byl-byl-i.]

Tailor-Bird.—The Weaver-Bird.—The tailor-bird[1] having completed her nest, sewing together the leaves by passing through them a cotton thread twisted by the creature herself, leaps from branch to branch to testify her happiness by a clear and merry note; and the Indian weaver[2], a still more ingenious artist, having woven its dwelling with grass something into the form of a bottle, with a prolonged neck, hangs it from a projecting branch with its entrance inverted so as to baffle the approaches of its enemies, the tree snakes and other reptiles. The natives assert that the male bird carries fire flies to the nest, fastening them to its sides by a particle of soft mud, and Mr. Layard assures me that although he has never succeeded in finding the fire fly, the nest of the male bird (for the female occupies another during incubation) invariably contains a patch of mud on each side of the perch.

[Footnote 1: Orthotomus longicauda, Gmel.]

[Footnote 2: Ploceus baya, Blyth; P. Philippinus, Auct.]

Crows.—Of all the Ceylon birds of this order the most familiar and notorious is the small glossy crow, whose shining black plumage shot with blue has obtained for him the title of Corvus splendens.[1] They frequent the towns in companies, and domesticate themselves in the close vicinity of every house; and it may possibly serve to account for the familiarity and audacity which they exhibit in their intercourse with men, that the Dutch during their sovereignty in Ceylon enforced severe penalties against any one killing a crow, under the belief that they are instrumental in extending the growth of cinnamon by feeding on the fruit, and thus disseminating the undigested seed.[2]

[Footnote 1: There is another species, the C. culminatus, so called from the convexity of its bill; but though seen in the towns, it lives chiefly in the open country, and may be constantly observed wherever there are buffaloes, perched on their backs and engaged, in company with the small Minah (Acridotheres tristis) in freeing them from ticks.]

[Footnote 2: WOLF'S Life and Adventures, p. 117.]

So accustomed are the natives to its presence and exploits, that, like the Greeks and Romans, they have made the movements of the crow the basis of their auguries; and there is no end to the vicissitudes of good and evil fortune which may not be predicted from the direction of their flight, the hoarse or mellow notes of their croaking, the variety of trees on which they rest, and the numbers in which they are seen to assemble. All day long they are engaged in watching either the offal of the offices, or the preparation for meals in the dining-room; and as doors and windows are necessarily opened to relieve the heat, nothing is more common than the passage of crows across the room, lifting on the wing some ill-guarded morsel from the dinner-table.

No article, however unpromising its quality, provided only it be portable, can with safety be left unguarded in any apartment accessible to them. The contents of ladies' work-boxes, kid gloves, and pocket handkerchiefs vanish instantly if exposed near a window or open door. They open paper parcels to ascertain the contents; they will undo the knot on a napkin if it encloses anything eatable, and I have known a crow to extract the peg which fastened the lid of a basket in order to plunder the provender within.

On one occasion a nurse seated in a garden adjoining a regimental mess-room, was terrified by seeing a bloody clasp-knife drop from the air at her feet; but the mystery was explained on learning that a crow, which had been watching the cook chopping mince-meat, had seized the moment when his head was turned to carry off the knife.

One of these ingenious marauders, after vainly attitudinising in front of a chained watch-dog, which was lazily gnawing a bone, and after fruitlessly endeavouring to divert his attention by dancing before him, with head awry and eye askance, at length flew away for a moment, and returned bringing with it a companion who perched itself on a branch a few yards in the rear. The crow's grimaces were now actively renewed, but with no better result, till its confederate, poising himself on his wings, descended with the utmost velocity, striking the dog upon the spine with all the force of his beak. The ruse was successful; the dog started with surprise and pain, but not quickly enough to seize his assailant, whilst the bone he had been gnawing disappeared the instant his head was turned. Two well-authenticated instances of the recurrence of this device came within my knowledge at Colombo, and attest the sagacity and powers of communication and combination possessed by these astute and courageous birds.

On the approach of evening the crows assemble in noisy groups along the margin of the fresh-water lake which surrounds Colombo on the eastern side; here for an hour or two they enjoy the luxury of the bath, tossing the water over their shining backs, and arranging their plumage decorously, after which they disperse, each taking the direction of his accustomed quarters for the night.[1]

[Footnote 1: A similar habit has been noticed in the damask Parrots of Africa (Palaeornis fuscus), which daily resort at the same hour to their accustomed water to bathe.]

During the storms which usher in the monsoon, it has been observed, that when coco-nut palms are struck by lightning, the destruction frequently extends beyond a single tree, and from the contiguity and conduction of the spreading leaves, or some other peculiar cause, large groups will be affected by a single flash, a few killed instantly, and the rest doomed to rapid decay. In Belligam Bay, a little to the east of Point-de-Galle, a small island, which is covered with coco-nuts, has acquired the name of "Crow Island," from being the resort of those birds, which are seen hastening towards it in thousands towards sunset. A few years ago, during a violent storm of thunder, such was the destruction of the crows that the beach for some distance was covered with a black line of their remains, and the grove on which they had been resting was to a great extent destroyed by the same flash.[1]

[Footnote 1: Similar instances are recorded in other countries of sudden mortality amongst crows to a prodigious extent, but whether occasioned by lightning seems uncertain. In 1839 thirty-three thousand dead crows were found on the shores of a lake in the county Westmeath in Ireland after a storm.—THOMPSON'S Nat. Hist. Ireland, vol. i. p. 319, and Patterson in his Zoology, p. 356, mentions other cases.]

III. SCANSORES. Parroquets.—Of the Psittacidae the only examples are the parroquets, of which the most renowned is the Palaeornis Alexandri, which has the historic distinction of bearing the name of the great conquerer of India, having been the first of its race introduced to the knowledge of Europe on the return of his expedition. An idea of their number may be formed from the following statement of Mr. Layard, as to the multitudes which are found on the western coast. "At Chilaw I have seen such vast flights of parroquets coming to roost in the coco-nut trees which overhang the bazaar, that their noise drowned the Babel of tongues bargaining for the evening provisions. Hearing of the swarms which resorted to this spot, I posted myself on a bridge some half mile distant, and attempted to count the flocks which came from a single direction to the eastward. About four o'clock in the afternoon, straggling parties began to wend towards home, and in the course of half an hour the current fairly set in. But I soon found that I had no longer distinct flocks to count, it became one living screaming stream. Some flew high in the air till right above their homes, and dived abruptly downward with many evolutions till on a level with the trees; others kept along the ground and dashed close by my face with the rapidity of thought, their brilliant plumage shining with an exquisite lustre in the sun-light. I waited on the spot till the evening closed, when I could hear, though no longer distinguish, the birds fighting for their perches, and on firing a shot they rose with a noise like the 'rushing of a mighty wind,' but soon settled again, and such a din commenced as I shall never forget; the shrill screams of the birds, the fluttering of their innumerable wings, and the rustling of the leaves of the palm trees, was almost deafening, and I was glad at last to escape to the Government Rest House."[1]

[Footnote 1: Annals of Nat. Hist. vol xiii. p.263.]

IV. COLUMBIDAE. Pigeons.—Of pigeons and doves there are at least a dozen species; some living entirely on trees[1] and never alighting on the ground; others, notwithstanding the abundance of food and warmth, are migratory[2], allured, as the Singhalese allege, by the ripening of the cinnamon berries, and hence one species is known in the southern provinces as the "Cinnamon Dove." Others feed on the fruits of the banyan: and it is probably to their instrumentality that this marvellous tree chiefly owes its diffusion, its seeds being carried by them to remote localities. A very beautiful pigeon, peculiar to the mountain range, discovered in the lofty trees at Neuera-ellia, has, in compliment to the Vicountess Torrington, been named Carpophaga Torringtoniae.

[Footnote 1: Treron bicenta, Jerd.]

[Footnote 2: Alsocomus puniceus, the "Season Pigeon" of Ceylon, so called from its periodical arrival and departure.]

Another, called by the natives neela-cobeya[1], although strikingly elegant both in shape and colour, is still more remarkable far the singularly soothing effect of its low and harmonious voice. A gentleman who has spent many years in the jungle, in writing to me of this bird and of the effects of its melodious song, says, that "its soft and melancholy notes, as they came from some solitary place in the forest, were the most gentle sounds I ever listened to. Some sentimental smokers assert that the influence of the propensity is to make them feel as if they could freely forgive all who had ever offended them, and I can say with truth such has been the effect on my own nerves of the plaintive murmurs of the neela-cobeya, that sometimes, when irritated, and not without reason, by the perverseness of some of my native followers, the feeling has almost instantly subsided into placidity on suddenly hearing the loving tones of these beautiful birds."

[Footnote 1: Chalcophaps Indicus, Linn.]

V. GALLINAE. The Ceylon Jungle-fowl.—The jungle-fowl of Ceylon[1] is shown by the peculiarity of its plumage to be distinct from the Indian species. It has never yet bred or survived long in captivity, and no living specimens have been successfully transmitted to Europe. It abounds in all parts of the island, but chiefly in the lower ranges of mountains; and one of the vivid memorials which are associated with our journeys through the hills, is its clear cry, which sounds like a person calling "George Joyce." At early morning it rises amidst mist and dew, giving life to the scenery that has scarcely yet been touched by the sunlight.

[Footnote 1: Gallus Lafayetti, Lesson.]

VI. GRALLAE.—On reaching the marshy plains and shallow lagoons on either side of the island, the astonishment of the stranger is excited by the endless multitudes of stilt-birds and waders which stand in long array within the wash of the water, or sweep in vast clouds above it. Ibises[1], storks[2], egrets, spoonbills[3], herons[4], and the smaller races of sand larks and plovers, are seen busily traversing the wet sand, in search of the red worm which burrows there, or peering with steady eye to watch the motions of the small fry and aquatic insects in the ripple on the shore.

[Footnote 1: Tantalus leucocephalus, and Ibis falcinellus.]

[Footnote 2: The violet-headed Stork (Ciconia leucocephala).]

[Footnote 3: Platalea leucorodia, Linn.]

[Footnote 4: Ardea cinerea. A. purpurea.]

VII. ANSERES.—Preeminent in size and beauty, the tall flamingoes[1], with rose-coloured plumage, line the beach in long files. The Singhalese have been led, from their colour and their military order, to designate them the "English Soldier birds." Nothing can be more startling than the sudden flight of these splendid creatures when alarmed; their strong wings beating the air sound like distant thunder; and as they soar over head, the flock which appeared almost white but a moment before, is converted into crimson by the sudden display of the red lining of their wings. A peculiarity in the beak of the flamingo has scarcely attracted due attention, as a striking illustration of creative wisdom in adapting the organs of animals to their local necessities. The upper mandible, which is convex in other birds, is in them flattened, whilst the lower, instead of being flat, is convex. To those who have had an opportunity of witnessing the action of the bird in its native haunts, the expediency of this arrangement is at once apparent. The flamingo, to counteract the extraordinary length of its legs, is provided with a proportionately long neck, so that in feeding in shallow water the crown of the head becomes inverted and the upper mandible brought into contact with the bottom; where its flattened surface qualifies it for performing the functions of the lower one in birds of the same class; and the edges of both being laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, by the aid of its fleshy tongue, to sift its food before swallowing.

[Footnote 1: Phoenicopterus roseus, Pallas.]

Floating on the surface of the deeper water, are fleets of the Anatidae, the Coromandel teal[1], the Indian hooded gull[2], the Caspian tern, and a countless variety of ducks and smaller fowl. Pelicans[3] in great numbers resort to the mouths of the rivers, taking up their position at sunrise on some projecting rock, from which to dart on the passing fish, and returning far inland at night to their retreats among the trees which overshadow some ruined watercourse or deserted tank.

[Footnote 1: Nettapus Coromandelianus, Gmel.]

[Footnote 2: Larus brunnicephalus, Jerd.]

[Footnote 3: Pelicanus Philippensis, Gmel.]

Of the birds familiar to European sportsmen, partridges and quails are to be had at all times; the woodcock has occasionally been shot in the hills, and the ubiquitous snipe, which arrives in September from Southern India, is identified not alone by the eccentricity of its flight, but by retaining in high perfection the qualities which have endeared it to the gastronome at home. But the magnificent pheasants which inhabit the Himalayan range and the woody hills of the Chin-Indian peninsula, have no representative amongst the tribes that people the woods of Ceylon; although a bird believed to be a pheasant has more than once been seen in the jungle, close to Rambodde, on the road to Neuera-ellia.

List of Ceylon Birds.

In submitting this catalogue of the birds of Ceylon, I am anxious to state that the copious mass of its contents is mainly due to the untiring energy and exertions of my friend, Mr. E.L. Layard. Nearly every bird in the list has fallen by his gun; so that the most ample facilities have been thus provided, not only for extending the limited amount of knowledge which formerly existed on this branch of the zoology of the island; but for correcting, by actual comparison with recent specimens, the errors which had previously prevailed as to imperfectly described species. The whole of Mr. Layard's fine collection is at present in England.

Accipitres.

Aquila Bonelli, Temm. pennata, Gm. Spizaetus Nipalensis, Hodgs. limnaeetus, Horsf. Ictinaetus Malayensis, Reinw. Haematornis cheela, Daud. spilogaster, Blyth. Pontoaetus leucogaster, Gm. ichthyaetus, Horsf. Haliastur Indus, Bodd. Falco peregrinus, Linn. peregrinator, Sund. Tinnunculus alaudarius, Briss. Hypotriorchis chicquera, Daud. Baza lophotes, Cuv. Milvus govinda, Sykes. Elanus melanopterus, Daud. Astur trivirgatus, Temm. Accipiter badius, Gm. Circus Swainsonii, A. Smith. cincrascens, Mont. melanoleucos, Gm. aeruginosus, Linn. Athene castonatus, Blyth. scutulata, Raffles. Ephialtes scops, Linn. lempijii, Horsf. sunia, Hodgs. Ketupa Ceylonensis, Gm. Syrnium Indranee, Sykes. Strix Javanica, Gm.

Passeres.

Batrachostomus moniliger, Layard. Caprimulgus Mahrattensis, Sykes. Kelaarti, Blyth. Asiaticus, Lath. Cypselus batassiensis, Gray. melba, Linn. affinis, Gray. Macropteryx coronatus, Tickell. Collocalia brevirostris, McClel. Acanthylis caudacuta, Lath. Hirundo panayana, Gm. daurica, Linn. hyperythra, Layard. domicola, Jerdon. Coracias Indica, Linn. Harpactes fasciatus, Gm. Eurystomus orientalis, Linn. Halcyon Capensis, Linn. atricapillus, Gm. Smyrnensis, Linn. Ceyx tridactyla, Linn. Alcedo Bengalensis, Gm. Ceryle rudis, Linn. Merops Philippinus, Linn. viridis, Linn. quincticolor, Vieill. Upupa nigripennis, Gould. Nectarina Zeylanica, Linn. minima, Sykes. Asiatica, Lath. Lotenia, Linn. Dicaeum minimum, Tickell. Phyllornis Malabarica, Lath. Jerdoni, Blyth. Dendrophila frontalis, Horsf. Piprisoma agile, Blyth. Orthotomus longicauda, Gm. Cisticola cursitans, Frankl. omalura, Blyth. Drymoica valida, Blyth. inornata, Sykes. Prinia socialis, Sykes. Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth. Phyllopneuste nitidus, Blyth. montanus, Blyth. viridanus, Blyth. Copsychus saularus, Linn. Kittacincla macrura, Gm. Pratincola caprata, Linn. atrata, Kelaart. Calliope cyanea, Hodgs. Thamnobia fulicata, Linn. Cyanecula Suevica, Linn. Sylvia affinis, Blyth. Parus cinereus, Vieill. Zosterops palpebrosus, Temm. Ioera Zeylanica, Gm. typhia, Linn. Motacilla sulphurea, Bechs. Indica, Gm. Madraspatana, Briss. Budytes viridis, Gm. Anthus rufulus, Vieill. Richardii, Vieill. striolatus, Blyth. Brachypteryx Palliseri, Kelaart. Alcippe nigrifrons, Blyth. Pitta brachyura, Jerd. Oreocincla spiloptera, Blyth. Merula Wardii, Jerd. Kinnisii, Kelaart. Zoothera imbricata, Layard. Garrulax cinereifrons, Blyth. Pormatorhinus melanurus, Blyth. Malacocercus rufescens, Blyth. griseus, Gm. striatus, Swains. Pellorneum fuscocapillum, Blyth. Dumetia albogularis, Blyth. Chrysomma Sinense, Gm. Oriolus melanocephalus, Linn. Indicus, Briss. Criniger ictericus, Stickl. Pycnonotus penicillatus, Kelaart. flavirictus, Strickl. haemorrhous, Gm. atricapillus, Vieill. Hemipus picatus, Sykes. Hypsipetes Nilgherriensis, Jerd. Cyornis rubeculoides, Vig. Myiagra azurea, Bodd. Cryptolopha cinereocapilla, Vieill. Leucocerca compressirostris, Blyth. Tchitrea paradisi, Linn. Butalis latirostris, Raffles. Muttui, Layard. Stoparola melanops, Vig. Pericrocotus flammeus, Forst. peregrinus, Linn. Campephaga Macei, Less. Sykesii, Strickl. Artamus fuscus, Vieill. Edolius paradiseus, Gm. Dicrurus macrocereus, Vieill. edoliformis, Blyth. longicaudatus, A. Hay. leucopygialis, Blyth. coerulescens, Linn. Irena puella, Lath. Lanius superciliosus, Lath. erythronotus, Vig. Tephrodornis affinis, Blyth. Cissa puella, Blyth & Layard. Corvus splendens, Vieille. culminatus, Sykes. Eulabes religiosa, Linn. ptilogenys, Blyth. Pastor roseus, Linn. Hetaerornis pagodarum, Gm. albifrontata, Layard. Acridotheres tristis, Linn. Ploceus manyar, Horsf. baya, Blyth. Munia undulata, Latr. Malabarica, Linn. Malacca, Linn. rubronigra, Hodgs. striata, Linn. pectoralis, Jerd. Passer Indicus, Jard. & Selb. Alauda gulgula, Frank. Malabarica, Scop. Pyrrhulauda grisea, Scop. Mirafra affinis, Jerd. Buceros gingalensis, Shaw. coronata, Bodd.