MAMMALIA.
With the exception of the Mammalia and the Birds, the fauna of Ceylon
has, up to the present, failed to receive that systematic attention to
which its richness and variety so amply entitle it. The Singhalese
themselves, habitually indolent and singularly unobservant of nature in
her operations, are at the same time restrained from the study of
natural history by tenets of their religion which forbid the taking of
life under any circumstances. From the nature of their avocations, the
majority of the European residents engaged in planting and commerce, are
discouraged from gratifying this taste; and it is to be regretted that
the civil servants of the government, whose position and duties would
have afforded them influence and extended opportunity for successful
investigation, have never seen the importance of encouraging such
studies.
The first effective impulse to the cultivation of natural science in
Ceylon, was communicated by Dr. Davy when connected with the medical
staff of the army from 1816 to 1820, and his example stimulated some of
the assistant surgeons of Her Majesty's forces to make collections in
illustration of the productions of the colony. Of the late Dr. Kinnis
was one of the most energetic and successful. He was seconded by Dr.
Templeton of the Royal Artillery, who engaged assiduously in the
investigation of various orders, and commenced an interchange of
specimens with Mr. Blyth[1], the distinguished naturalist and curator of
the Calcutta Museum.
[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal,_ vol. xv. p. 280, 314.]
The birds and rarer vertebrata of the island were thus compared with
their peninsular congeners, and a tolerable knowledge of those belonging
to the island, so far as regards the higher classes of animals, has been
the result. The example so set has been perseveringly followed by Mr.
E.L. Layard and Dr. Kelaart, and infinite credit is due to Mr. Blyth for
the zealous and untiring energy with which he has devoted his attention
and leisure to the identification of the various interesting species
forwarded from Ceylon, and to their description in the Calcutta Journal.
To him, and to the gentleman I have named, we are mainly indebted, for
whatever accurate knowledge we now possess of the zoology of the colony.
The mammalia, birds, and reptiles received their first scientific
description in an able work published recently by Dr. Kelaart of the
army medical staff[1], which is by far the most valuable that has yet
appeared on the Singhalese fauna. Co-operating with him, Mr. Layard has
supplied a fund of information especially in ornithology and conchology.
The zoophytes and crustacea have been investigated by Professor Harvey,
who visited Ceylon for that purpose in 1852, and by Professor Schmarda,
of the University of Prague, who was lately sent there for a similar
object. From the united labours of these gentlemen and others interested
in the same pursuits, we may hope at an early day to obtain such a
knowledge of the zoology of Ceylon, as may to some extent compensate for
the long indifference of the government officers.
[Footnote 1: _Prodromus Faunæ Zeylanicæ; being Contributions to the
Zoology of Ceylon_, by F. KELAART, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., &c. &c. 2 vols.
Colombo and London, 1852. Mr. DAVY, of the Medical Staff; brother to Sir
Humphry, published in 1821 his _Account of the Interior of Ceylon and
its Inhabitants_, which contains the earliest notices of the natural
history of the island, and especially of the Ophidian reptiles.]
I. QUADRUMANA. 1 _Monkeys_.--To a stranger in the tropics, among the
most attractive creatures in the forests are the troops of _monkeys_,
which career in ceaseless chase among the loftiest trees. In Ceylon
there are five species, four of which belong to one group, the
Wanderoos, and the other is the little graceful grimacing _rilawa_[1],
which is the universal pet and favourite, of both natives and Europeans.
[Footnote 1: _Macacus pileatus_, Shaw and Desmmarest. The "bonneted
Macaque" is common in the south and west; and a spectacled monkey is
_said_ to inhabit the low country near to Bintenne; but I have never
seen one brought thence. A paper by Dr. TEMPLETON in the _Mag. Nat.
Hist_. n.s. xiv. p. 361, contains some interesting facts relative to the
Rilawa of Ceylon.]
KNOX, in his captivating account of the island, gives an accurate
description of both; the Rilawas, with "no beards, white faces, and long
hair on the top of their heads, which parteth and hangeth down like a
man's, and which do a deal of mischief to the corn, and are so impudent
that they will come into their gardens, and eat such fruit as grows
there. And the Wanderoos, some as large as our English Spaniel dogs, of
a darkish grey colour, and black faces with great white beards round
from ear to ear, which makes them shew just like old men. This sort does
but little mischief, keeping in the woods, eating only leaves and buds
of trees, but when they are catched they will eat anything."[1]
[Footnote 1: KNOX, _Historical Relation of Ceylon, an Island in the East
Indies_.--P. i. ch. vi. p. 25. Fol. Lond. 1681.]
KNOX, whose experience was confined almost exclusively to the hill
country around Kandy, spoke in all probability of one large and
comparatively powerful species, _Presbytes ursinus_, which inhabits the
lofty forests, and which, as well as another of the same group, _P.
Thersites_, was, till recently, unknown to European naturalists. The
Singhalese word _Ouanderu_ has a generic sense, and being in every
respect the equivalent for our own term of "monkey," it necessarily
comprehends the low country species, as well as those which inhabit
other parts of the island. And, in point of fact, in the island there
are no less than four animals, each of which is entitled to the name of
"wanderoo."[1]
[Footnote 1: Down to a very late period, a large and somewhat
repulsive-looking monkey, common to the Malabar coast, the Silenus
veter, _Linn_., was, from the circumstance of his possessing a "great
white beard," incorrectly assumed to be the "wanderoo" of Ceylon,
described by KNOX; and under that usurped name it has figured in every
author from Buffon to the present time. Specimens of the true Singhalese
species were, however, received in Europe; but in the absence of
information in this country as to their actual habitat, they were
described, first by Zimmerman, on the continent, under the name of
_Leucoprymnus cephalopterus,_ and subsequently by Mr. E. Bennett, under
that of _Semnopithecus Nestor (Proc. Zool. Soc._ pt. i. p. 67: 1833);
the generic and specific characters being on this occasion most
carefully pointed out by that eminent naturalist. Eleven years later Dr.
Templeton forwarded to the Zoological Society a description, accompanied
by drawings, of the wanderoo of the western maritime districts of
Ceylon, and noticed the fact that the wanderoo of authors (S. veter) was
not to be found in the island except as an introduced species in the
custody of the Arab horse-dealers, who visit the port of Colombo at
stated periods. Mr. Waterhouse, at the meeting (_Proc. Zool. Soc._ p. 1:
1844) at which this communication was read, recognised the identity of
the subject of Dr. Templeton's description with that already laid before
them by Mr. Bennett; and from this period the species in question was
believed to truly represent the wanderoo of Knox. The later discovery,
however, of the P. ursinus by Dr. Kelaart, in the mountains amongst
which we are assured that Knox spent so many years of captivity, reopens
the question, but at the same time appears to me to clearly demonstrate
that in this latter we have in reality the animal to which his narrative
refers.]
Each separate species has appropriated to itself a different district of
the wooded country, and seldom encroaches on the domain of its
neighbours.
1. Of the four species found in Ceylon, the most numerous in the island,
and the one best known in Europe, is the Wanderoo of the low country,
the _P. cephalopterus_ of Zimmerman.[1] It is an active and intelligent
creature, not much larger than the common bonneted Macaque, and far from
being so mischievous as others of the monkeys in the island. In
captivity it is remarkable for the gravity of its demeanour and for an
air of melancholy in its expression and movements, which is completely
in character with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. Its disposition
is gentle and confiding, it is in the highest degree sensible of
kindness, and eager for endearing attentions, uttering a low plaintive
cry when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its
habits when domesticated, and spends much of its time in trimming its
fur, and carefully divesting its hair of particles of dust.
[Footnote 1: Leucoprymnus Nestor, _Bennett_.]
Although common in the southern and western provinces, it is never found
at a higher elevation than 1300 feet.
When observed in their native wilds, a party of twenty or thirty of
these creatures is generally busily engaged in the search for berries
and buds. They are seldom to be seen on the ground, and then only when
they have descended to recover seeds or fruit that have fallen at the
foot of their favourite trees. In their alarm, when disturbed, their
leaps are prodigious; but generally speaking, their progress is made not
so much by _leaping_ as by swinging from branch to branch, using their
powerful arms alternately; and when baffled by distance, flinging
themselves obliquely so as to catch the lower boughs of an opposite
tree, the momentum acquired by their descent being sufficient to cause a
rebound, that carries them again upwards, till they can grasp a higher
branch; and thus continue their headlong flight. In these perilous
achievements, wonder is excited less by the surpassing agility of these
little creatures, frequently encumbered as they are by their young,
which cling to them in their career, than by the quickness of their eye
and the unerring accuracy with which they seem almost to calculate the
angle at which a descent would enable them to cover a given distance,
and the recoil to elevate themselves again to a higher altitude.
2. The low country Wanderoo is replaced in the hills by the larger
species, _P. ursinus_, which inhabits the mountain zone. The natives,
who designate the latter the _Maha_ or Great Wanderoo, to distinguish it
from the _Kaloo_, or black one, with which they are familiar, describe
it as much wilder and more powerful than its congener of the lowland
forests. It is rarely seen by Europeans, this portion of the country
having till very recently been but partially opened; and even now it is
difficult to observe its habits, as it seldom approaches the few roads
which wind through these deep solitudes. It was first captured by Dr.
Kelaart in the woods near Neuera-ellia, and from its peculiar appearance
it has been named _P. ursinus_ by Mr. Blyth.[1]
[Footnote 1: Mr. Blyth quotes as authority for this trivial name a
passage from MAJOR FORBES' _Eleven Years in Ceylon_; and I can vouch for
the graphic accuracy of the remark.--"A species of very large monkey,
that passed some distance before me, when resting on all fours, looked
so like a Ceylon bear, that I nearly took him for one."]
3. The _P. Thersites_, which is chiefly distinguished from the others by
wanting the head tuft, is so rare that it was for some time doubtful
whether the single specimen procured by Dr. Templeton from
Neuera-kalawa, west of Trincomalie, and on which Mr. Blyth conferred
this new name, was in reality native; but the occurrence of a second,
since identified by Dr. Kelaart, has established its existence as a
separate species.
Like the common wanderoo, this one was partial to fresh vegetables,
plantains, and fruit; but he ate freely boiled rice, beans, and gram. He
was fond of being noticed and petted, stretching out his limbs in
succession to be scratched, drawing himself up so that his ribs might be
reached by the finger, and closing his eyes during the operation,
evincing his satisfaction by grimaces irresistibly ludicrous.
4. The _P. Priamus_ inhabits the northern and eastern provinces, and the
wooded hills which occur in these portions of the island. In appearance
it differs both in size and in colour from the common wanderoo, being
larger and more inclining to grey; and in habits it is much less
reserved. At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island where the
population is comparatively numerous, these monkeys become so
familiarised with the presence of man as to exhibit the utmost daring
and indifference. A flock of them will take possession of a Palmyra
palm; and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves among
the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes
invisible in an instant. The presence of a dog, however, excites such an
irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they
never fail to betray themselves. They may be seen frequently congregated
on the roof of a native hut; and, some years ago, the child of a
European clergyman stationed at Tillipalli having been left on the
ground by the nurse, was so teased and bitten by them as to cause its
death.
The Singhalese have the impression that the remains of a monkey are
never found in the forest; a belief which they have embodied in the
proverb that "he who has seen a white crow, the nest of a paddy bird, a
straight coco-nut tree, or a dead monkey, is certain to live for ever."
This piece of folk-lore has evidently reached Ceylon from India, where
it is believed that persons dwelling on the spot where a hanuman monkey,
_S. entellus_, has been killed, will die, and that even its bones are
unlucky, and that no house erected where they are hid under ground can
prosper. Hence when a house is to be built, it is one of the employments
of the Jyotish philosophers to ascertain by their science that none such
are concealed; and Buchanan observes that "it is, perhaps, owing to this
fear of ill-luck that no native will acknowledge his having seen a dead
hanuman."[1]
[Footnote 1: BUCHANAN'S _Survey of Bhagulpoor_, p. 142. At Gibraltar it
is believed that the body of _a dead monkey_ is never found on the
rock.]
The only other quadrumanous animal found in Ceylon is the little
loris[1], which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and
consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the "Ceylon
Sloth." There are two varieties in the island; one of the ordinary
fulvous brown, and another larger, whose fur is entirely black. A
specimen of the former was sent to me from Chilaw, on the western coast,
and lived for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and
vegetables. It was partial to ants and other insects, and always eager
for milk or the bone of a fowl. The naturally slow motion of its limbs
enables the loris to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes
birds before they can be alarmed by its presence. The natives assert
that it has been known to strangle the pea-fowl at night, and feast on
the brain. During the day the one which I kept was usually asleep in the
strange position represented below; its perch firmly grasped with all
hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep
between its legs. The singularly-large and intense eyes of the loris
have attracted the attention of the Singhalese, who capture the creature
for the purpose of extracting them as charms and love-potions, and this
they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the fire till
its eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is _theivangu_, or "thin-bodied;" and
hence a deformed child or an emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil
districts the same epithet. The light-coloured variety of the loris in
Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat resembling the _namam_, or
mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu; and, from this peculiarity, it
is distinguished as the _Nama-theivangu_.[2]
[Footnote 1: Loris gracilis, _Geoff_.]
[Footnote 2: There is an interesting notice of the loris of Ceylon by
Dr. TEMPLETON, in the _Mag. Nat. Hist_. 1844, ch. xiv. p. 362.]
[Illustration: THE LORIS]
II. CHEIROPTERA. _Bats_.--The multitude of _bats_ is one of the features
of the evening landscape; they abound in every cave and subterranean
passage, in the tunnels on the highways, in the galleries of the
fortifications, in the roofs of the bungalows, and the ruins of every
temple and building. At sunset they are seen issuing from their diurnal
retreats to roam through the twilight in search of crepuscular insects,
and as night approaches and the lights in the rooms attract the
night-flying lepidoptera, the bats sweep round the dinner-table and
carry off their tiny prey within the glitter of the lamps. Including the
frugivorous section about sixteen species have been identified in
Ceylon, and of these, two varieties are peculiar to the island. The
colours of some of them are as brilliant as the plumage of a bird,
bright yellow, deep orange, and a rich ferruginous brown inclining to
red.[1] The Roussette[2] of Ceylon (the "Flying-fox," as it is usually
called by Europeans) measures from three to four feet from point to
point of its extended wings, and some of them have been seen wanting but
a few inches of five feet in the alar expanse. These sombre-looking
creatures feed chiefly on ripe fruits, the guava, the plantain, and the
rose-apple, and are abundant in all the maritime districts, especially
at the season when the silk-cotton tree, the _pulun-imbul_,[3] is
putting forth its flower-buds, of which they are singularly fond. By day
they suspend themselves from the highest branches, hanging by the claws
of the hind legs, pressing the chin against the breast, and using the
closed membrane attached to the forearms as a mantle to envelope the
head. At sunset launching into the air, they hover with a murmuring
sound occasioned by the beating of their broad membranous wings, around
the fruit trees, on which they feed till morning, when they resume their
pensile attitude as before. They are strongly attracted to the coco-nut
trees during the period when toddy is drawn for distillation, and
exhibit, it is said, at such times symptoms resembling intoxication.[4]
[Footnote 1:
Rhinolophus affinis? _var_. rubidus, _Kelaart_.
Hipposideros murinus, _var_. fulvus, _Kelaart_.
Hipposideros speoris, _var_. aureus, _Kelaart_.
Kerivoula picta, _Pallas_.
Scotophilus Heathii, _Horsf_.]
[Footnote 2: Pteropus Edwardsii, _Geoff_.]
[Footnote 3: Eriodendron orientale, _Stead_.]
[Footnote 4: Mr. THWAITES, of the Royal Botanic Garden, at Kandy, in a
recent letter, 19th Dec. 1858, gives the following description of a
periodical visit of the pteropus to an avenue of fig-trees:--"You would
be much interested now in observing a colony of the _pteropus_ bat,
which has established itself for a season on some trees within sight of
my bungalow. They came about the same time last year, and, after staying
a few weeks, disappeared: I suppose they had demolished all the
available food in the neighbourhood. They are now busy of an evening
eating the figs of _Ficus elastica_, of which we have a long avenue in
the grounds, as I dare say you remember.
"These bats take possession during the day of particular trees, upon
which they hang like so much ripe fruit, but they take it into their
heads to have some exercise every morning between the hours of 9 and 11,
during which they are wheeling about in the air by the hundred,
seemingly enjoying the sunshine and warmth. They then return to their
fevourite tree, and remain quiet until the evening, when they move off
towards their feeding ground. There is a great chattering and screaming
amongst them before they can get agreeably settled in their places after
their morning exercise; quarrelling, I suppose, for the most comfortable
spots to hang on by during the rest of the day. The trees they take
possession of become nearly stripped of leaves; and it is a curious
sight to see them in such immense numbers. I do not allow them to be
disturbed."]
The flying-fox is killed by the natives for the sake of its flesh, which
I have been told, by a gentleman who has eaten it, resembles that of the
hare.[1]
[Footnote 1: In Western India the native Portuguese eat the flying-fox,
and pronounce it delicate, and far from disagreeable in flavour.]
There are several varieties (some of them peculiar to the island) of the
horse-shoe-headed _Rhinolophus_, with the strange leaf-like appendage
erected on the extremity of the nose. It has been suggested that bats,
though nocturnal, are deficient in that keen vision characteristic of
animals which take their prey at night. I doubt whether this conjecture
be well founded; but at least it would seem that in their peculiar
oeconomy some additional power is required to supplement that of vision,
as in insects that of touch is superadded, in the most sensitive
development, to that of sight. Hence, it is possible that the extended
screen stretched at the back of their nostrils may be intended by nature
to facilitate the collection and conduction of odours, as the vast
development of the shell of the ear in the same family is designed to
assist in the collection of sounds--and thus to reinforce their vision
when in pursuit of their prey at twilight by the superior sensitiveness
of the organs of hearing and smell, as they are already remarkable for
that marvellous sense of touch which enables them, even when deprived of
sight, to direct their flight with security, by means of the delicate
nerves of the wing. One tiny little bat, not much larger than the humble
bee[1], and of a glossy black colour, is sometimes to be seen about
Colombo. It is so familiar and gentle that it will alight on the cloth
during dinner, and manifests so little alarm that it seldom makes any
effort to escape before a wine glass can be inverted to secure it.[2]
[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, _Géogr_., 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 Ælian, lib. iii. ch.
22.]
"Aspidas ut Pharias caudâ solertior hostis
Ludit, et iratas incertâ provocat umbrâ:
Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras
Effusæ 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 Maccarthiæ, _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, antennæ, 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
_Hippoboscidæ_ 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, antennæ, 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: Spizaëtus limnaëtus, _Horsf_.]
[Footnote 2: Hæmatornis 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--
"Nocturnæ-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 algæ.[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 hæmorrhous, _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 (_Palæornis 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 Psittacidæ the only examples are
the parroquets, of which the most renowned is the _Palæornis 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. COLUMBIDÆ. _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 Torringtoniæ._
[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. GALLINÆ. _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. GRALLÆ.--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 Anatidæ,
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-ellía.
_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_.
Spizaëtus Nipalensis, _Hodgs_.
limnæëtus, _Horsf_.
Ictinaëtus Malayensis, _Reinw_.
Hæmatornis cheela, _Daud_.
spilogaster, _Blyth_.
Pontoaëtus leucogaster, _Gm_.
ichthyaëtus, _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_.
_æruginosus, 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_.
Dicæum 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_.
Iöra 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_.
hæmorrhous, _Gm_.
atricapillus, _Vieill_.
Hemipus picatus, _Sykes_.
Hypsipetes Nilgherriensis, _Jerd_.
Cyornis rubeculoïdes, _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_.
Hetærornis 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_.
Scansores.
Loriculus Asiaticus, _Lath_.
Palæornis Alexandri, _Linn_.
torquatus, _Briss_.
cyanocephalus, _Linn_.
Calthropæ, _Layard_.
Layardi, _Blyth_.
Megalaima Indica, _Latr_.
Zeylanica, _Gmel_.
flavifrons, _Cuv_.
rubicapilla, _Gm_.
Picus gymnophthalmus, _Blyth._
Mahrattensis, _Lath_.
Macei, _Vieill_.
Gecinus chlorophanes, _Vieill_.
Brachypternus aurantius, _Linn_.
Ceylonus, _Forst_.
_rubescens, Vieill_.
Stricklandi, _Layard_.
Micropterus gularis, _Jerd_.
Centropus rufipennis, _Illiger_.
chlororhynchos, _Blyth_.
Oxylophus melanoleucos, _Gm_.
Coramandus, _Linn_.
Endynamys orientalis, _Linn_.
Cuculus Bartletti, _Layard_.
striatus, _Drapiez_.
canorus, _Linn_.
Polyphasia tenuirostris, _Gray_.
Sonneratii, _Lath_.
Hierococcyx varius, _Vahl_.
Surniculus dicruroïdes, _Hodgs_.
Phoenicophaus pyrrhocephalus, _Forst_.
Zanclostomus viridirostris, _Jerd_.
Columbæ.
Treron bicincta, _Jerd_.
flavogularis, _Blyth_.
Pompadoura, _Gm_.
chlorogaster, _Blyth_.
Carpophaga pusilla, _Blyth_.
Torringtoniæ, _Kelaart_.
Alsocomus puniceus, _Tickel_.
Columba intermedia, _Strickl_.
Turtur risorius, _Linn_.
Suratensis, _Lath_.
humilis, _Temm_.
orientalis, _Lath_.
Chalcophaps Indicus, _Linn_.
Gallinæ.
Pavo cristatus, _Linn_.
Gallus Lafayetti, _Lesson_.
Galloperdix bicalcaratus, _Linn_.
Francolinus Ponticerianus, _Gm_.
Perdicula agoondah, _Sykes_.
Coturnix Chinensis, _Linn_.
Turnix ocellatus _var._ Bengalensis, _Blyth_.
Turnix ocellatus _var._ taigoor, _Sykes_.
Gralliæ.
Esacus recurvirostris, _Cuv_.
Oedienemus crepitans, _Temm_.
Cursorius Coromandelicus, _Gm_.
Lobivanellus bilobus, _Gm_.
Goensis, _Gm_.
Charadrius virginicus, _Bechs_.
Hiaticula Philippensis, _Scop_.
cantiana, _Lath_.
Leschenaultii, _Less_.
Strepsilas interpres, _Linn_.
Ardea purpurea, _Linn_.
cinerea, _Linn_.
asha, _Sykes_.
intermedia, _Wagler_.
garzetta, _Linn_.
alba, _Linn_.
bubulcus, _Savig_.
Ardeola leucoptera, _Bodd_.
Ardetta cinnamomea, _Gm_.
flavicollis, _Lath_.
Sinensis, _Gm_.
Butoroides Javanica, _Horsf_.
Platalea leucorodia, _Linn_.
Nycticorax griseus, _Linn_.
Tigrisoma melanolopha, _Raffl_.
Mycteria australis, _Shaw_.
Leptophilus Javanica, _Horsf_.
Ciconia leucocephala, _Gm_.
Anastomus oscitans, _Bodd_.
Tantalus leucocephalus, _Gm_.
Geronticus melanocephalus, _Lath_.
Ibis falcinellus, _Linn_.
Numenius arquatus, _Linn_.
phoeopus, _Linn_.
Totanus fuscus, _Linn_.
ochropus, _Linn_.
calidris, _Linn_.
hypoleucos, _Linn_.
glottoides, _Vigors_.
stagnalis, _Bechst_.
Actitis glareola, _Gm_.
Tringa minuta, _Leist_.
subarquata, _Gm_.
Limicola platyrhyncha, _Temm_.
Limosa ægocephala, _Linn_.
Himantopus candidus, _Bon_.
Recurvirostra avocetta, _Linn_.
Hæmatopus ostralegus, _Linn_.
Rhynchoea Bengalensis, _Linn_.
Scolopax rusticola, _Linn_.
Gallinago stenura, _Temm_.
_scolopacina, Bon_.
_gallinula, Linn_.
Hydrophasianus Sinensis, _Gm_.
Ortygometra rubiginosa, _Temm_.
Corethura Zeylanica, _Gm_.
Porzana pygmæa, _Nan_.
Rallus striatus, _Linn_.
Indicus, _Blyth_.
Porphyrio poliocephalus, _Lath_.
Gallinula phoenicura, _Penn_.
chloropus, _Linn_.
cristata, _Lath_.
ANSERES.
Phoenicopterus ruber, _Linn_.
Sarkidiornis melanonotos, _Penn_.
Nettapus Coromandelianus, _Gm_.
Anas poecilorhyncha, _Penn_.
Dendrocygnus arcuatus, _Cuv_.
Dafila acuta, _Linn_.
Querquedula crecca, _Linn_.
circia, _Linn_.
_Fuligula rufina, Pall_.
Spatula clypeata, _Linn_.
Podiceps Philippensis, _Gm_.
Larus brunnicephalus, _Jerd_.
ichthyaëtus, _Pall_.
Sylochelidon Caspius, _Lath_.
Hydrochelidon Indicus, _Steph_.
Gelochelidon Anglicus, _Mont_.
Onychoprion anasthætus, _Scop_.
Sterna Javanica, _Horsf_.
melanogaster, _Temm_.
minuta, _Linn_.
Seena aurantia, _Gray_.
Thalasseus Bengalensis, _Less_.
cristata, _Steph_.
Dromas ardeola, _Payk_.
Atagen ariel, _Gould_.
Thalassidroma _melanogaster, Gould_.
Plotus melanogaster, _Gm_.
Pelicanus Philippensis, _Gm_.
Graculus Sinensis, _Shaw_.
pygmæus, _Pallas_.
NOTE.
The following is a list of the birds which are, as far as is at present
known, peculiar to the island; it will probably at some future day be
determined that some included in it have a wider geographical range.
Hæmatornis spilogaster. The "Ceylon eagle;" was discovered by Mr. Layard
in the Wanny, and by Dr. Kelaart at Trincomalie.
Athene castonotus. The chestnut-winged hawk owl. This pretty little owl
was added to the list of Ceylon birds by Dr. Templeton.
Batrachostomus monoliger. The oil bird; was discovered amongst the
precipitous rocks of the Adam's Peak range by Mr. Layrard. Another
specimen was sent about the same time to Sir James Emerson Tennent from
Avisavelle. Mr. Mitford has met with it at Ratnapoora.
Caprimulgus Kelaarti. Kelaart's night-jar; swarms on the marshy plains
of Neuera-ellia at dusk.
Hirundo hyperythra. The red-bellied swallow; was discovered in 1849 by
Mr. Layard at Ambepusse. They build a globular nest with a round hole at
top. A pair built in the ring for a hanging lamp in Dr. Gardner's study
at Peradinia, and hatched their young, undisturbed by the daily trimming
and lighting of the lamp.
Cisticola omalura. Layard's mountain grass warbler; is found in
abundance on Horton Plain and Neuera-ellia, among the long Patena grass.
Drymoica valida. Layard's wren-warbler; frequents tufts of grass and low
bushes, feeding on insects.
Pratincola atrata. The Neuera-ellia robin; a melodious songster; added
to our catalogue by Dr. Kelaart.
Brachypteryx Palliseri. Ant thrush. A rare bird, added by Dr. Kelaart
from Dimboola and Neuera-ellia.
Pellorneum fuscocapillum. Mr. Layard found two specimens of this rare
thrush creeping about shrubs and bushes, feeding on insects.
Alcippe nigrifrons. This thrush frequents low impenetrable thickets, and
seems to be widely distributed.
Oreocincla spiloptera. The spotted thrush is only found in the mountain
zone about lofty trees.
Merula Kinnisii. The Neuera-ellia blackbird; was added by Dr. Kelaart.
Garrulax cinereifrons. The ashy-headed babbler; was found by Mr. Layard
near Ratnapoora.
Pomatorhinus melanurus. Mr. Layard states that the mountain babbler
frequents low, scraggy, impenetrable brush, along the margins of
deserted cheena land.
Malacocercus rufescens. The red-dung thrush added by Dr. Templeton to
the Singhalese Fauna, is found in thick jungle in the southern and
midland districts.
Pycnonotus penicillatus. The yellow-eared bulbul; was found by Dr.
Kelaart at Neuera-ellia.
Butalis Muttui. This very handsome flycatcher was procured at Point
Pedro, by Mr. Layard.
Dicrurus edoliformis. Dr. Templeton found this kingcrow at the Bibloo
Oya. Mr. Layard has since got it at Ambogammoa.
Dicrurus leucopygialis. The Ceylon kingcrow was sent to Mr. Blyth from
the vicinity of Colombo, by Dr. Templeton.
Tephrodornis affinis. The Ceylon butcher-bird. A migratory species found
in the wooded grass lands in October.
Cissa puella. Layard's mountain jay. A most lovely bird, found along
mountain streams at Neuera-ellia and elsewhere.
Enlabes ptilogenys. Templeton's mynah. The largest and most beautiful of
the species. It is found in flocks perching on the highest trees,
feeding on berries.
Loriculus asiaticus. The small parroquet, abundant in various districts.
Palæornis Calthropæ. Layard's purple-headed parroquet, found at Kandy,
is a very handsome bird, flying in flocks, and resting on the summits of
the very highest trees. Dr. Kelaart states that it is the only parroquet
of the Neuera-ellia range.
Palæornis Layardi. The Jaffna parroquet was discovered by Mr. Layard at
Point Pedro.
Megalaima flavifrons. The yellow-headed barbet, is not uncommon.
Megalaima rubricapilla, is found in most parts of the island.
Picus gymnophthalmus. Layard's woodpecker. The smallest of the species,
was discovered near Colombo, amongst jak trees.
Brachypternus Ceylonus. The Ceylon woodpecker, is found in abundance
near Neuera-ellia.
Brachypternus rubescens. The red woodpecker.
Centropus chlororhynchus. The yellow-billed cuckoo, was detected by Mr.
Layard in dense jungle near Colombo and Avisavelle.
Phoenicophaus pyrrhocephalus. The malkoha, is confined to the southern
highlands.
Treron flavogularis. The common green pigeon, is found in abundance at
the top of Balacaddua Pass and at Ratnapoora. It feeds on berries and
flies in large flocks. It was believed to be identical with the
following.--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 58: 1854.
Treron Pompadoura. The Pompadour pigeon. "The Prince of Canino has shown
that this is a totally distinct bird, much smaller, with the quantity of
maroon colour on the mantle greatly reduced."--Paper by Mr. BLYTH, _Mag.
Nat Hist._ p. 514: 1857.
Carpophaga Torringtoniæ. Lady Torrington's pigeon; a very handsome
pigeon discovered in the highlands by Dr. Kelaart. It flies high in long
sweeps, and makes its nest on the loftiest trees.
Carpophaga pusilla. The little-hill dove, a migratory species found by
Mr. Layard in the mountain zone, only appearing with the ripened fruit
of the teak, banyan, &c., on which they feed.
Gallus Lafayetti. The Ceylon jungle fowl. The female of this handsome
bird was figured by Mr. GRAY (_Ill. Ind. Zool._) under the name of G.
Stanleyi. The cock bird had long been lost to naturalists, until a
specimen was forwarded to Mr. Blyth, who at once recognised it as the
long-looked for male of Mr. Gray's recently described female. It is
abundant in all the uncultivated portions of Ceylon; coming out into the
open spaces to feed in the mornings and evenings.
CHAP. III.
REPTILES.
LIZARDS. _Iguana_.--One of the earliest if not the first remarkable
animal to startle a stranger on arriving in Ceylon, whilst wending his
way from Point-de-Galle to Colombo, is a huge lizard of from four to
five feet in length, the Talla-goya of the Singhalese, and Iguana[1] of
the Europeans. It may be seen at noonday searching for ants and insects
in the middle of the highway and along the fences; when disturbed, but
by no means alarmed, by the approach of man, it moves off to a safe
distance; and, the intrusion being over, returns again to the occupation
in which it had been interrupted. Repulsive as it is in appearance, it
is perfectly harmless, and is hunted down by dogs in the maritime
provinces, where its delicate flesh is converted into curry, and its
skin into shoes. When seized, it has the power of inflicting a smart
blow with its tail. The Talla-goya lives in almost any convenient
hollow, such as a hole in the ground, or the deserted nest of the
termites; and home small ones which frequented my garden at Colombo,
made their retreat in the heart of a decayed tree. A still larger
species, the Kabragoya[2], which is partial to marshy ground, when
disturbed upon land, will take refuge in the nearest water. From the
somewhat eruptive appearance of the yellow blotches on its scales, a
closely allied species, similarly spotted, formerly obtained amongst
naturalists the name of _Monitor exanthemata_, and it is curious that
the native appellation of this one, Kabra[3], is suggestive of the same
idea. The Singhalese, on a strictly homoeopathic principle, believe that
its fat, externally applied, is a cure for cutaneous disorders, but that
inwardly taken it is poisonous.[4] It is one of the incidents which seem
to indicate that Ceylon belongs to a separate circle of physical
geography, this lizard has not hitherto been discovered on the continent
of Hindustan, though it is found to the eastward in Burmah.[5]
[Footnote 1: Monitor dracæna, _Linn_. Among the barbarous nostrums of
the uneducated natives both Singhalese and Tamil, is the tongue of the
iguana, which they regard as a specific for consumption, if plucked from
the living animal and swallowed whole.]
[Footnote 2: Hydrosaurus salvator, _Wagler_.]
[Footnote 3: In the _Mahawanso_ the hero, Tisso, is said to have been
"afflicted with a cutaneous complaint which, made his skin scaly like
that of the _godho_."--Ch. xxiv. p. 148. "Godho" is the Pali name for
the Kabra-goya.]
[Footnote 4: In the preparation of the mysterious poison, the
_Cobra-tel_, which is regarded with so much horror by the Singhalese;
the unfortunate Kabra-goya is forced to take a painfully prominent part.
The receipt, as written down by a Kandyan, was sent to me from
Kornegalle, by Mr. Morris, in 1840; and in dramatic arrangement it far
outdoes the cauldron of _Macbeth's_ witches. The ingredients are
extracted from venomous snakes, the Cobra de Capello (from which it
takes its name), the Carawella, and the Tic prolonga, by making an
incision in the head and suspending the reptiles over a chattie to
collect the poison. To this, arsenic and other drugs are added, and the
whole is to be "boiled in a human skull, with the aid of the three
Kabra-goyas, which are tied on three sides of the fire, with their heads
directed towards it, and tormented by whips to make them hiss, so that
the fire may blaze. The froth from their lips is then to be added to the
boiling mixture, and so soon as an oily scum rises to the surface, the
_cobra-tel_ is complete."
Although it is obvious that the arsenic is the main ingredient in the
poison, Mr. Morris reported to me that this mode of preparing it was
actually practised in his district; and the above account was
transmitted by him apropos to the murder of a Mohatal and his wife,
which was then under investigation, and which had been committed with
the _cobra-tel_. Before commencing the operation of preparing the
poison, a cock is first sacrificed to the yakkos or demons.]
[Footnote 5: In corroboration of the view propounded elsewhere (see pp.
7, 84, &c.), and opposed to the popular belief that Ceylon, at some
remote period, was detached from the continent of India by the
interposition of the sea, a list of reptiles will be found at p. 203,
including, not only individual species, but whole genera peculiar to the
island, and not to be found on the mainland. See a paper by DR. A.
GÜNTHER on _The Geog. Distribution of Reptiles_, Magaz. Nat. Hist. for
March, 1859, p. 230.]
_Blood-suckers_.--These, however, are but the stranger's introduction to
innumerable varieties of lizards, all most attractive in their sudden
movements, and some unsurpassed in the brilliancy of their colouring,
which bask on banks, dart over rocks, and peer curiously out of the
decaying chinks of every ruined wall. In all their motion there is that
vivid and brief energy, the rapid but restrained action which is
associated with their limited power of respiration, and which justifies
the accurate picture of--
"The green lizard, rustling thro' the grass,
And up the fluted shaft, _with short, quick, spring_
To vanish in the chinks which time has made."[1]
[Footnote 1: ROGERS' _Pæstum_.]
One of the most beautiful of this race is the _green calotes_[1], in
length about twelve inches, which, with the exception of a few dark
streaks about the head, is as brilliant as the purest emerald or
malachite. Unlike its congeners of the same family, it never alters this
dazzling hue, whilst many of them possess the power, like the chameleon,
but in a less degree, of exchanging their ordinary colours for others
less conspicuous. The _C. ophiomachus_, and another, the _C.
versicolor_, exhibit this faculty in a remarkable manner. The head and
neck, when the animal is irritated or hastily swallowing its food,
becomes of a brilliant red (whence the latter has acquired the name of
the "blood-sucker"), whilst the usual tint of the rest of the body is
converted into pale yellow. The _sitana_[2], and a number of others,
exhibit similar phenomena.
[Footnote 1: Calotes viridis, _Gray_.]
[Footnote 2: Sitana Ponticereana, _Cuv_.]
_Chameleon_.--The true chameleon[1] is found, but not in great numbers,
in the dry districts in the north of Ceylon, where it frequents the
trees, in slow pursuit of its insect prey. Whilst the faculty of this
creature to blush all the colours of the rainbow has attracted the
wonder of all ages, sufficient attention has hardly been given to the
imperfect sympathy which subsists between the two lobes of the brain,
and the two sets of nerves which permeate the opposite sides of its
frame. Hence, not only have each of the eyes an action quite independent
of the other, but one side of its body would appear to be sometimes
asleep whilst the other is vigilant and active: one will assume a green
tinge whilst the opposite one is red; and it is said that the chameleon
is utterly unable to swim, from the incapacity of the muscles of the two
sides to act in concert.
[Footnote 1: Chamælio vulgaris, _Daud_.]
_Ceratophora_.--A unique lizard, and hitherto known only by two
specimens, one in the British Museum, and another in that of Leyden, is
the _Ceratophora Stoddartii_, distinguished by the peculiarity of its
having no external ear, whilst its muzzle bears on its extremity the
horn-like process from which it takes its name. It has recently been
discovered by Dr. Kelaart to be a native of the higher Kandyan hills,
where it is sometimes seen in the older trees in pursuit of sect
larvæ.[1]
[Footnote 1: Dr. Kelaart has likewise discovered at Neuera-ellia a
_Salea_, distinct from the S. Jerdoni.]
_Geckoes_.--But the most familiar and attractive of the class are the
_Geckoes_[1], which frequent the sitting-rooms, and being furnished with
pads to each toe, are enabled to ascend perpendicular walls and adhere
to glass and ceilings. Being nocturnal in their habits, the pupil of the
eye, instead of being circular as in the diurnal species, is linear and
vertical like those of the cat. As soon as evening arrives, they emerge
from the chinks and recesses where they conceal themselves during the
day, in search of insects which retire to settle for the night, and are
to be seen in every house in keen and crafty pursuit of their prey. In a
boudoir where the ladies of my family spent their evenings, one of these
familiar and amusing little creatures had its hiding-place behind a gilt
picture frame, and punctually as the candles were lighted, it made its
appearance on the wall to be fed with its accustomed crumb; and, if
neglected, it reiterated its sharp quick call of _chic, chic, chit_,
till attended to. It was of a delicate grey colour, tinged with pink;
and having by accident fallen on a work-table, it fled, leaving its tail
behind it, which, however, it reproduced within less than a month. This
faculty of reproduction is doubtless designed to enable the creature to
escape from its assailants: the detaching of the limb is evidently its
own act; and it is observable, that when reproduced, the tail generally
exhibits some variation from its previous form, the diverging spines
being absent, the new portion covered with small square uniform scales
placed in a cross series, and the scuta below being seldom so distinct
as in the original member.[2] In an officer's quarters in the fort of
Colombo, a Geckoe had been taught to come daily to the dinner-table, and
always made its appearance along with the dessert. The family were
absent for some months, during which the house underwent extensive
repairs, the roof having been raised, the walls stuccoed, and ceilings
whitened. It was naturally surmised that so long a suspension of its
accustomed habits would have led to the disappearance of the little
lizard; but on the return of its old friends, at their first dinner it
made its entrance as usual the instant the cloth had been removed.
[Footnote 1: Hemidactylus maculatus, _Dum_. et _Bib., Gray_; H.
Leschenaultii, _Dum_. et _Bib_.; H. frenatus, _Schlegel_.]
[Footnote 2: _Brit. Mus. Cat_. p. 143; KELAART'S Prod. Faun. Zeylan. p.
183.]
_Crocodile_.--The Portuguese in India, like the Spaniards in South
America, affixed the name of _lagarto_ to the huge reptiles which infest
the rivers and estuaries of both continents; and to the present day the
Europeans in Ceylon apply the term _alligator_ to what are in reality
_crocodiles_, which literally swarm in the still waters and tanks
throughout the northern provinces, but rarely frequent rapid streams,
and have never been found in the marshy elevations among the hills.
Their instincts in Ceylon present no variation from their habits in
other countries. There would appear to be two well-distinguished species
in the island, the _Allie Kimboola_[1], the Indian crocodile, which
inhabits the rivers and estuaries throughout the low countries of the
coasts, attaining the length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and which will
assail man when pressed by hunger; and the Marsh crocodile[2], which
lives exclusively in fresh water, frequenting the tanks in the northern
and central provinces, and confining its attacks to the smaller animals:
in length it seldom exceeds twelve or thirteen feet. Sportsmen complain
that their dogs are constantly seized by both species; and water-fowl,
when shot, frequently disappear before they can be secured by the
fowler.[3] The Singhalese believe that the crocodile can only move
swiftly on sand or smooth clay, its feet being too tender to tread
firmly on hard or stony ground. In the dry season, when the watercourses
begin to fail and the tanks become exhausted, the Marsh crocodiles are
sometimes encountered wandering in search of water in the jungle; but
generally, during the extreme drought, when unable to procure their
ordinary food from the drying up of the watercourses, they bury
themselves in the mud, and remain in a state of torpor till released by
the recurrence of the rains.[4] At Arne-tivoe, in the eastern province,
whilst riding across the parched bed of the tank, I was shown the
recess, still bearing the form and impress of the crocodile, out of
which the animal had been seen to emerge the day before. A story was
also related to me of an officer attached to the department of the
Surveyor-General, who, having pitched his tent in a similar position,
had been disturbed during the night by feeling a movement of the earth
below his bed, from which on the following day a crocodile emerged,
making its appearance from beneath the matting.[5]
[Footnote 1: Crocodilus biporcatus. _Cuvier._]
[Footnote 2: Crocodilus palustris, _Less_.]
[Footnote 3: In Siam the flesh of the crocodile is sold for food in the
markets and bazaars. "Un jour je vis plus de cinquante crocodiles,
petits et grands, attachés aux colonnes de leurs maisons. Ils les
vendent la chair comme on vendrait de la chair de porc, mais à bien
meilleur marché."--PALLEGOIX, _Siam_, vol. i. p. 174.]
[Footnote 4: HERODOTUS records the observations of the Egyptians that
the crocodile of the Nile abstains from food during the four winter
months.--_Euterpe_, lviii.]
[Footnote 5: HUMBOLDT relates a similar story as occurring at Calabazo,
in Venezuela.--_Personal Narrative_, c. xvi.]
The species which inhabits the fresh water is essentially cowardly in
its instincts, and hastens to conceal itself on the appearance of man. A
gentleman (who told me the circumstance), when riding in the jungle,
overtook a crocodile, evidently roaming in search of water. It fled to a
shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and, thrusting its head into the
mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound
confidence of perfect concealment. In 1833, during the progress of the
Pearl Fishery, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton employed men to drag for
crocodiles in a pond which was infested with them in the immediate
vicinity of Aripo. The pool was about fifty yards in length, by ten or
twelve wide, shallowing gradually to the edge, and not exceeding four or
five feet in the deepest part. As the party approached the bund, from
twenty to thirty reptiles, which had been basking in the sun, rose and
fled to the water. A net, specially weighted so as to sink its lower
edge to the bottom, was then stretched from bank to bank and swept to
the further end of the pond, followed by a line of men with poles to
drive the crocodiles forward: so complete was the arrangement, that no
individual could evade the net, yet, to the astonishment of the
Governor's party, not one was to be found when it was drawn on shore,
and no means of escape was apparent or possible except descending into
the mud at the bottom of the pond.[1]
[Footnote 1: A remarkable instance of the vitality of the common
crocodile, _C. biporcatus_, was related to me by a gentleman at Galle:
he had caught on a baited hook an unusually large one, which his coolies
disembowelled, the aperture in the stomach being left expanded by a
stick placed across it. On returning in the afternoon with a view to
secure the head, they found that the creature had crawled for some
distance, and made its escape into the water.]
TESTUDINATA. _Tortoise_,--Of the _testudinata_ the land tortoises are
numerous, but present no remarkable features beyond the beautiful
marking of the starred variety[1], which is common, in the north-western
province around Putlam and Chilaw, and is distinguished by the bright
yellow rays which diversify the deep black of its dorsal shield. From
one of these which was kept in my garden I took a number of flat ticks
(_Ixodes_), which adhered to its fleshy neck in such a position as to
baffle any attempt of the animal itself to remove them; but as they were
exposed to constant danger of being crushed against the plastron during
the protrusion and retraction of the head, each was covered with a horny
case almost as resistant as the carapace of the tortoise itself. Such an
adaptation of structure is scarcely less striking than that of the
parasites found on the spotted lizard of Berar by Dr. Hooker, each of
which presented the distinct colour of the scale to which it adhered.[2]
[Footnote 1: Testudo stellata, _Schweig_.]
[Footnote 2: HOOKER'S _Himalayan Journals_, vol. i. p. 37.]