S£PTfi>fBER 1, 1883.] 



'5-1 



THE TROPICAL AdRlCUL'.('UlllST. 



i8g 



Toi/id Edifr"^«jr of the ''Ceylon Observer." 



CEYLOX aCd tuNG-BIRDS : A ^\ORD IN VINDIC- 

 ATION uf >■' OF THEIR VOCAL POWERS. 



^j.^''.- Kaudy, 25th June 1S85. 



Dea^ p.1 Sir, — \Ve have often heard it remarked, 



but (rft generally by those possessed of very limited 



po' \v.»veis of observation, that in Ceylon, and other 



tropical countries, where brilliant and varied 



colors have been granted to birds and flowers, 



sonij has been denied to the one and fragrance to 



the other. 



The late Dr. Kelaart has already pointed out, 

 that this is one of those " flippant (/(ueraHzations, 

 which people are fond of repeating, originally made 

 without investigation, and perpetuated without 

 enquiry." 



It is in fact inapplicable to the avi/aunn and 

 flora of Ceylon, e.xcept perhaps as regards our 

 higher mountains, and the barren sandy wastes of 

 some parts of the lowcountry, as also in several of 

 our coft'ee districts, which have been entirely de- 

 nuded of forest. lu thfse regions, however, there 

 is a great paucity, an almost entire absence, of bird 

 life, and few of our songsters dwell or even 

 sojourn there. 



The observation may apply to the avifauuiv of 

 a few tropical countries, and to my own personal 

 knowledge it does so, more or less, to the islands 

 of the West Indies and the Spanish !Main of South 

 America, where the "Mocking 15ird," (a) is almost the 

 only one with any pretensions to musical talent. 

 There, however, the birds far excel those of Ceylon, 

 in the biillianoy of their plumage. While contrasting 

 our sor.g-birds with those to familiar to our school- 

 boy days, and whose neste we were wont to ruth- 

 lessly plunder, we are apt to forget, that our 

 feathered friends of the old countrj, are mute for 

 half the year, or nearly so, and that sweet and 

 powerful as are the songs of the " Mavis" (b) and 

 the "Nightingale," (c) the " Lintie " (d) and the 

 "Laverock," (e) their concerts last but for a season. 

 Here, on the other hand, our birds may be said to 

 breed all the year round, and to sing all the year 

 round. Surely then we cannot expect our song- 

 sters, to pour forth their melody, with the same 

 vigour as their congeners of more temperate climes, 

 wlio give, 63 it were, but a limited number of per- 

 formances. 



In favourable situations, the weallli of bird-life in 

 Ceylon is simply marvellous, including many more 

 or leen gifted songters : and here, though 

 AVe lang to see the broom 

 AVi' tassels on the lea, 

 And hear the lintie's sang 

 0' our aiu couutree," 

 we are heverthelen! cheered in the groy d.-Mli of eal'ly 

 morning by the rich and loog-contiuueei Joyona notes of 

 thc"Mai!p:e Robin," (/) and, It we aaunter out for a morn- 

 ing stroll, in a wooded neighbourhood, or the cbaimlug 

 sylvan retreats of "Lady Hortcn Woods," our hearts 

 are still more gladdened by the mellow tiute-likt notis 

 of the "LoDg-laikd Thrush" (y) and the "<lrii.le." (A) 

 As the morning advance?, a host of musical voices 

 greet us on all sides, the bell-like uo'es of "Birbets " (i) 

 tningliiig with the ewett love-song of the " Bulbul," 1^) 

 ftnd the merry metallic twitterings of "Iiiiah-crecper8"(i) 



(a) Tardus polyglottia (U) Turdus musicus. (c) Luscinia 

 Philomela, (d) I'Vingilla. (e) Alauela arveusis. (f) C'opsy- 

 chus saularis. {g) Kittacincla macrurus. (It) Oriolus 

 Ceylonensis. (i) Jlegalaimidio. (j) Pycnonotinw. (A) Mui- 

 ^Mtioie. 



I and ''Honey Birds." (/) And here too, while pausing 

 to admire the romautis scenery, by the banks of 

 the Mahaweliganga, as it winds its tortuous course 

 to the Park t'ouutry, we listen to the e-xijuisitely 

 soothing and plaintive strains of the "Ground Dove," (m) 

 the ''Nlla Kobeyya " of the Sinlialese. 



Even ou the plains of Nuwara Eliya we meet with 

 some sweet songsters, peculiar to the Highlands : 

 there on a bright sunny morning, by the snug 

 little church, nestling among its stately camarlnas and 

 acacia!^, cau be heartl- the rich and mellow notes of 

 whole family of " Kelaart's Yellow-eared Bulbul " (n) 

 and hopping among the tombstones, and llirting his 

 restless tail, the little black " Nuwara Elij'a Robin" (0) 

 Binga his sweet " love-song to tho morn," over tho 

 graves of the departed, whUe, from the jungle hard 

 by, the pleasing and plaintive ditties of the "Black- 

 bird " (;j) reach our ear and gladden us. 



In truth. Nature, lavish of her tropical gifts, has 

 richly endowed our fijh'an trarb/i-rs with eniUessly 

 varied powers of melody, and to the flowers of the 

 forest and the meadow sweet fragi'ance has been liber- 

 ally imparted. A. W. 



THE NEW SYSTEM OK CHARGES ON TEA. 

 12, Great Tower St., E. C, July 10th, 1885. 

 Dear Sib,— As you are doubtless aware, the dock 

 compiuies and Wharfingers have agreed to adopt a 

 new scale of charges upon tea, commencing from let 

 July : the Wharfingers, lam told, have bound them, 

 selves under a heavy penalty not to allow more 

 than 10 per cent discount on the dock chai-ges. 

 The first question we naturally ask ourselves is, how 

 the new rates compare with the old, and to what 

 extent will shippers of tea gain or lose by the new 

 arrangement? Without entering into particulars it is 

 sufficient to say that the increase in the expense of 

 selling tea amounts to some 40 per cent. Although 

 the new scale of charges is lower, no discount is 

 in future to be allowed by the dock companies 

 I (formerly the allowance was ,35 per cent), and only 

 j 10 per cent by tho wharfingers instead of 50 per 

 cent to b'O per cent — the result being an extra charge 

 to shippers of 40 per cent. Before raising a cry 

 against the extra charges it would be as well to 

 look more thoroughly into the existing working of 

 the tea trade and see how far obsolete and un- 

 necessary customs could be dispensed with. It ap. 

 pears the great competition between the docks and 

 wharves resulting in enormous discounts, harl reached 

 such a pitch no benefit resulted to either, which 

 necessitated some joint action being taken, tho pre- 

 sent cause of the above loss to shippers. It is quite 

 possible that large importers of tea will agitate 

 against these new rates, and it seems to me a favour- 

 able oppoitunity for all those interested in the tea 

 trade, and particularly in the interests of a young 

 tea colony like Ceylon tint the whole question of 

 the tea trade should be corsideied from every point! 

 of VitW with the object of finally sweepin;? away 

 old Useless foims aud customs, expensive in operation 

 and cumbersome in delHil, ehd of dealing with toa iu 

 the stirple^ easy wSy that is done with sUgar, cofFee, 

 ai.d cincl.oha, thereby saving these undue charges m the 

 maunjuiatlou e f tea «hich dock companies and Whar- 

 fiuers li self-defence are at prcs' nt CDmpelled to make. 

 I am not here alluding to tlie bulking rif tea, 

 which is leally a locd matter, and, it properly 

 carried out iu India and t'eylon at the factory 

 itself, would not have to be done In this 

 country. Indeed wiiere invoo-s are large and the 

 quality equal, no bulking is now req-uired but a 

 shipment of small, over-assorted parcels would 



(i) Nectarinina;. (m) Obalcophaps Indicus. («) Kela- 

 artia peucillata. (a) I'ratincola atrata. (p) Herula Kiunisi, 



