Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 24

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 gra.s.s 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.

Palaeornis Calthropae. 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.

Palaeornis 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 woodp.e.c.k.e.r. The smallest of the species, was discovered near Colombo, amongst jak trees.

Brachypternus Ceylonus. The Ceylon woodp.e.c.k.e.r, is found in abundance near Neuera-ellia.

Brachypternus rubescens. The red woodp.e.c.k.e.r.

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 Pa.s.s 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 quant.i.ty of maroon colour on the mantle greatly reduced."--Paper by Mr. BLYTH, _Mag.

Nat Hist._ p. 514: 1857.

Carpophaga Torringtoniae. 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 c.o.c.k 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 s.p.a.ces 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 h.o.m.oeopathic 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 dracaena, _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 _G.o.dho_."--Ch. xxiv. p. 148. "G.o.dho" 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, a.r.s.enic 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 sc.u.m rises to the surface, the _cobra-tel_ is complete."

Although it is obvious that the a.r.s.enic 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 c.o.c.k 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.

GuNTHER 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 unsurpa.s.sed in the brilliancy of their colouring, which bask on banks, dart over rocks, and peer curiously out of the decaying c.h.i.n.ks of every ruined wall. In all their motion there is that vivid and brief energy, the rapid but restrained action which is a.s.sociated with their limited power of respiration, and which justifies the accurate picture of--

"The green lizard, rustling thro' the gra.s.s, And up the fluted shaft, _with short, quick, spring_ To vanish in the c.h.i.n.ks which time has made."[1]

[Footnote 1: ROGERS' _Paestum_.]

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 a.s.sume 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: Chamaelio 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 larvae.[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 cla.s.s 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 gla.s.s 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 c.h.i.n.ks 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 a.s.sailants: 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_.]