Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 19

[Footnote 1: Spizaetus limnaetus, _Horsf_.]

[Footnote 2: Haematornis cheela, _Daud_.]

[Footnote 3: Pontoaetus leucogaster, _Gmel_.]

[Footnote 4: Haliastur indus, _Bodd_.]

[Footnote 5: E.L. Layard. Europeans have given this bird the name of the "Brahminy Kite," probably from observing the superst.i.tious 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 Anaraj.a.poora, where it is trained for hawking, it is usual, in lieu of a hood, to darken its eyes by means of a silken thread pa.s.sed through holes in the eyelids. The ign.o.ble birds of prey, the Kites[4], keep close by the sh.o.r.e, and hover round the returning boats of the fishermen to feast on the fry rejected from their nets.

[Footnote 1: Falco peregrinus, _Linn_.]

[Footnote 2: Tinnunculus alaudarius, _Briss_.]

[Footnote 3: Astur trivirgatus, _Temm_.]

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

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

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

"Nocturnae-que gemunt striges, et feralia bubo _Danna canens_." Theb. iii. I. 511.

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

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

In a subsequent note he further says--"I have since seen two birds by moonlight, one of the size and shape of a cuckoo, the other a large black bird, which I imagine to be the one which gives these calls."]

II. Pa.s.sERES. _Swallows_.--Within thirty-five miles of Caltura, on the western coast, are inland caves, the resort of the Esculent Swift[1], which there builds the "edible bird's nest," so highly prized in China.

Near the spot a few Chinese immigrants have established themselves, who rent the royalty from the government, and make an annual export of their produce. But the Swifts are not confined to this district, and caves containing them have been found far in the interior, a fact which complicates the still unexplained mystery of the composition of their nest; and notwithstanding the power of wing possessed by these birds, adds something to the difficulty of believing that it consists of glutinous algae.[2] In the nests brought to me there was no trace of organisation; and whatever may be the original material, it is so elaborated by the swallow as to present somewhat the appearance and consistency of strings of isingla.s.s. The quant.i.ty 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 l.u.s.tre than the deep blue of the sky above him; and so intent is his watch upon the pa.s.sing 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 circ.u.mstance 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 s.e.x 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 pa.s.sion for the rose gives a plaintive character to its note.

[Footnote 1: Pycnonotus haemorrhous, _Gmel_.]

[Footnote 2: _"Hazardasitaum,"_ the Persian name for the bulbul. "The Persians," according to Zakary ben Mohamed al Caswini, "say the bulbul has a pa.s.sion 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 pa.s.sing 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 gra.s.s 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 a.s.sert that the male bird carries fire flies to the nest, fastening them to its sides by a particle of soft mud, and Mr. Layard a.s.sures 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 s.h.i.+ning black plumage shot with blue has obtained for him the t.i.tle 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 hoa.r.s.e or mellow notes of their croaking, the variety of trees on which they rest, and the numbers in which they are seen to a.s.semble. 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 pa.s.sage 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 att.i.tudinising 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 a.s.sailant, 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 a.s.semble 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 s.h.i.+ning backs, and arranging their plumage decorously, after which they disperse, each taking the direction of his accustomed quarters for the night.[1]

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

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

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

III. SCANSORES. _Parroquets_.--Of the Psittacidae the only examples are the parroquets, of which the most renowned is the _Palaeornis Alexandri_, which has the historic distinction of bearing the name of the great conquerer of India, having been the first of its race introduced to the knowledge of Europe on the return of his expedition. An idea of their number may be formed from the following statement of Mr. Layard, as to the mult.i.tudes 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 s.h.i.+ning with an exquisite l.u.s.tre 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 'rus.h.i.+ng of a mighty wind,' but soon settled again, and such a din commenced as I shall never forget; the shrill screams of the birds, the fluttering of their innumerable wings, and the rustling of the leaves of the palm trees, was almost deafening, and I was glad at last to escape to the Government Rest House."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Annals of Nat. Hist_. vol xiii. p.263.]

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

[Footnote 1: Treron bicenta, _Jerd_.]

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

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

[Footnote 1: Chalcophaps Indicus, _Linn_.]

V. GALLINae. _The Ceylon Jungle-fowl_.--The jungle-fowl of Ceylon[1] is shown by the peculiarity of its plumage to be distinct from the Indian species. It has never yet bred or survived long in captivity, and no living specimens have been successfully transmitted to Europe. It abounds in all parts of the island, but chiefly in the lower ranges of mountains; and one of the vivid memorials which are a.s.sociated 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.