Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon Part 21

The upper mandible, which is convex in other birds, is flattened in the flamingo, 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.

To counteract the extraordinary length of its legs, it 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 cla.s.s; and the edges of both being laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, by the aid of its fleshy tongue, to sift before swallowing its food.

Floating on the surface of the deeper water, are fleets of the Anatidae, the Coromandel teal[1], the Indian hooded gull[2], the Caspian tern, and a countless variety of ducks and smaller fowl--pintails[3], teal[4], red-crested pochards[5], shovellers[6], and terns.[7] Pelicans[8] 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 pa.s.sing fish, and returning far inland at night to their retreats among the trees, which overshadow some solitary river or deserted tank.

[Footnote 1: Nettapus coromandelia.n.u.s, _Gm_.]

[Footnote 2: Larus brunnicephalus, _Jerd_.]

[Footnote 3: Dafila acuta, _Linn._]

[Footnote 4: Querquedula creeca, _Linn._]

[Footnote 5: Fuligula rufina, _Pallas_.]

[Footnote 6: Spatula clypeata, _Linn._]

[Footnote 7: Sterna minuta, _Linn._]

[Footnote 8: Pelica.n.u.s Philippensis, _Gmel_.]

I chanced upon one occasion to come unexpectedly upon one of these remarkable breeding places during a visit which I made to the great tank of Padivil, one of those gigantic constructions by which the early kings of Ceylon have left imperishable records of their reigns.

It is situated in the depth of the forests to the north-west of Trincomalie; and the tank is itself the basin of a broad and shallow valley, enclosed between two lines of low hills, that gradually sink into the plain as they approach towards the sea. The extreme breadth of the included s.p.a.ce may be twelve or fourteen miles, narrowing to eleven at the spot where the retaining bund has been constructed across the valley; and when this enormous embankment was in effectual repair, and the reservoir filled by the rains, the water must have been thrown back along the basin of the valley for at least fifteen miles. It is difficult now to determine the precise distances, as the overgrowth of wood and jungle has obliterated all lines left by the original level of the lake at its junction with the forest. Even when we rode along it, the centre of the tank was deeply submerged, so that notwithstanding the partial escape, the water still covered an area of ten miles in diameter. Even now its depth when full must be very considerable, for high on the branches of the trees that grow in the area, the last flood had left quant.i.ties of driftwood and withered gra.s.s; and the rocks and banks were coated with the yeasty foam, that remains after the subsidence of an agitated flood.

The bed of the tank was difficult to ride over, being still soft and treacherous, although covered everywhere with tall and waving gra.s.s; and in every direction it was poched into deep holes by the innumerable elephants that had congregated to roll in the soft mud, to bathe in the collected water, or to luxuriate in the rich herbage, under the cool shade of the trees. The ground, too, was thrown up into hummocks like great molehills which, the natives told us, were formed by a huge earthworm, common in Ceylon, nearly two feet in length, and as thick as a small snake. Through these inequalities the water was still running off in natural drains towards the great channel in the centre, that conducts it to the broken sluice; and across these it was sometimes difficult to find a safe footing for our horses.

In a lonely spot, towards the very centre of the tank, we came unexpectedly upon an extraordinary scene. A sheet of still water, two or three hundred yards broad, and about half a mile long, was surrounded by a line of tall forest-trees, whose branches stretched above its margin.

The sun had not yet risen, when we perceived some white objects in large numbers on the tops of the trees; and as we came nearer, we discovered that a vast colony of pelicans had formed their settlement and breeding-place in this solitary retreat. They literally covered the trees in hundreds; and their heavy nests, like those of the swan, constructed of large sticks, forming great platforms, were sustained by the horizontal branches. Each nest contained three eggs, rather larger than those of a goose; and the male bird stood placidly beside the female as she sat upon them.

Nor was this all; along with the pelicans prodigious numbers of other water-birds had selected this for their dwelling-place, and covered the trees in thousands, standing on the topmost branches; tall flamingoes, herons, egrets, storks, ibises, and other waders. We had disturbed them thus early, before their habitual hour for betaking themselves to their fishing-fields. By degrees, as the light increased, we saw them beginning to move upon the trees; they looked around them on every side, stretched their awkward legs behind them, extended their broad wings, gradually rose in groups, and slowly soared away in the direction of the seash.o.r.e.

The pelicans were apparently later in their movements; they allowed us to approach as near them as the swampy nature of the soil would permit; and even when a gun was discharged amongst them, only those moved off which the particles of shot disturbed. They were in such numbers at this favourite place; that the water over which they had taken up their residence was swarming with crocodiles, attracted by the frequent fall of the young birds; and the natives refused, from fear of them, to wade in for one of the larger pelicans which had fallen, struck by a rifle ball. It was altogether a very remarkable sight.

Of the birds familiar to European sportsmen, partridges and quails are to be had at all times; the woodc.o.c.k 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 Rangbodde, on the road to Neuera-ellia.

_List of Ceylon Birds_.

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

ACCIPITRES.

Aquila Bonelli, _Temm_.

pennata, _Gm_.

Spizaetus Nipalensis, _Hodgs_.

limnaeetus, _Horsf_.

Ictinaetus Malayensis, _Reinw_.

Haematornis Bacha, _Daud_.

spilogaster, _Blyth_.

Pontoaetus leucogaster, _Gm_.

ichthyaetus, _Horsf_.

Haliastur Indus, _Bodd_.

Falco peregrinus, _Linn._ peregrinator, _Sund_.

Tinnunculus alaudarius, _Briss_.

Hypotriorchis chicquera, _Daud_.

Baza lophotes, _Cuv_.

Milvus govinda, _Sykes_.

Ela.n.u.s melanopterus, _Daud_.

Astur trivirgatus, _Temm_.

Accipiter badius, _Gm_.

Circus Swainsonii, _A. Smith_.

cinerascens, _Mont_.

melanoleucos, _Gm_.

_aeruginosus, Linn_.

Athene castonatus, _Blyth_.

scutulata, _Raffles_.

Ephialtes scops, _Linn._ lempijii, _Horsf_.

sunia, _Hodgs_.

Ketupa Ceylonensis, _Gm_.

Syrnium Indranee, _Sykes_.

Strix Javanica, _Gm_.

Pa.s.sERES.

Batrachostomus moniliger, _Layard_.

Caprimulgus _Mahrattensis, Sykes_.

Kelaarti, _Blyth_.

Asiaticus, _Lath_.

Cypselus bata.s.siensis, _Gray_.

melba, _Linn._ affinis, _Gray_.

Macropteryx coronatus, _Tickell_.

Collocalia brevirostris, _McClel_.

Acanthylis caudacuta, _Lath_.

Hirundo panayana, _Gm_.

daurica, _Linn._ hyperythra, _Layard_.

domicola, _Jerdon_.

Coracias Indica, _Linn._ Harpactes fasciatus, _Gm_.

Eurystomus orientalis, _Linn._ Halcyon Capensis, _Linn._ atricapillus, _Gm_.

Smyrnensis, _Linn._ Ceyx tridactyla, _Linn._ Alcedo Bengalensis, _Gm_.

Ceryle rudis, _Linn._ Merops Philippinus, _Linn._ viridis, _Linn._ quincticolor, _Vieill_.

Upupa nigripennis, _Gould_.

Nectarina Zeylanica, _Linn._ minima, _Sykes_.

Asiatica, _Lath_.

Lotenia, _Linn._ Dicaeum minimum, _Tickell_.

Phyllornis Malabarica, _Lath_.

Jerdoni, _Blyth_.