298 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193G 



These stretches of both fresh and salt water support a wonderful 

 variety of ducks, storks, flamingos, teal, spoonbills, herons, egrets, 

 and ibises. 



As for the land birds, there is as great a variety, among them two 

 species of tropical crows, toucans, the edible swift, snipe, jungle fowl, 

 partridge, and quail. This avian roster also includes eagles, hawks, 

 and owls, but the most beautiful plumage is found in many of the 

 commoner birds whose congeners live in the New World — notably the 

 orioles, kingfishers, flycatchers, sun birds (first cousins of our 

 humming birds) wild pigeons, and parakeets. 



Probably the fact that the majority of the Sinhalese are orthodox 

 Buddhists, opposed to the killing of any form of avian life, and the 

 really operative laws for bird protection account for the great 

 number, variety, and persistence of the beautiful avifauna. 



Fifty of the fifty-two species of birds peculiar to the island have 

 been described and pictured by G. M. Henry, in Coloured Plates of 

 the Birds of Ceylon, 3 vols., 1927-30, mentioned above. To this mono- 

 graph has been recently added a fourth part (with 16 colored plates) 

 by the same author-artist, from which the illustrations of this paper 

 have been taken. 



Ceylon rohins. — As frequently happens in most of the British 

 Colonies, English vernacular names have been given to both alien 

 and indigenous animals (birds especially) that do not belong to the 

 synonjanous species or even genus, although they generally present 

 some resemblance in size, appearance, or habits to the familiar Eng- 

 lish name. This is true of the "robins" as well as of many other 

 birds well known in Ceylon. 



The black robin {Saxicoloides f. fulicata; see pi. 1) is one of the 

 prettiest birds in the whole island, where it is everywhere visible; 

 in fact, it is one of the most attractive species the tourist is likely 

 to encounter — an alert, fearless, cheerful little bird with the chirp 

 and the active movements of his namesake. One notes in particular 

 the jerky movements and elevations of his square-cut tail. The 

 entire body of both male and female is of a glossy blue black, with 

 a white patch on the wing coverts. Its length is only 6.3 inches. 

 The bird seems to spend most of its time in searching foi. the insects 

 on which it feeds. This small creature has little or no fear of 

 man, and one may discover its nest of hair, moss, rags, and twigs 

 with (usually) two eggs in any convenient cavity or space about 

 a house, in a coconut shell, or in some hole in a bank. 



The Ceylon magpie robin {Copsychus saularis ceylonensis) is also 

 found in Malaya and India. It closely resembles the black Indian 

 robin in habits, size (length, 8 inches), and color markings except 

 that the proportion of white on the wings and abdomen is greater 

 than in the last-named species (pi. 2). 



