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 "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 eagle1, 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 Erne3, 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, 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 Hawks. The beautiful Peregrine Falcon is rare, but the Kestrel is found almost universally; and the bold and daring Goshawk 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, keep close by the 1 Spizaëtus limnaëtus, Horsf. 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. Falco peregrinus, Linn. 7 Tinnunculus alaudarius, Briss. 8 Astur trivirgatus, Temm. 9 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. shore, and hover round the returning boats of the fishermen to feast on the fry rejected from their nets. 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." 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. II. PASSERES. Swallows.— Within thirty-five miles of Caltura, on the western coast, are inland caves the resort of the Esculent Swift 2, which there builds the "edible bird's nest," so highly prized in China. Near the spot a few Chinese immigrants have esta blished 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 notwith 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 "Nocturnæ que gemunt striges, et feralia bubo But Pliny, 1. xi. c. 93, doubts as to "The 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 saysDevil-Bird is not an 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 dis tance, and has a fine effect in the 2 Collocalia brevirostris, McClell. ; C. nidifica, Gray. standing the power of wing possessed by these birds, adds something to the difficulty of believing that it consists of glutinous algæ.1 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. 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 2 (known 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," 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." The Bulbul.-The Condatchee Bulbul, which, from 1 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. 2 Nectarina zeylanica, Linn. 4 Pycnonotus hæmorrhous, Gmel. 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 intrusted 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 creatrue 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," whose delicate passion for the rose gives a plaintive character to its note. Tailor-Bird.-- The Weaver-Bird. The tailor-bird? 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, 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, 1 "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. 2 Örthotomus longicauda, Gmel. 3 Ploceus baya, Blyth; P. philippinus, Auct. |