284. SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
neighbouring continent of India. We know pretty accurately 
what species are migrant, together with their summer and 
winter quarters, but details of the routes and times have not 
been thoroughly worked out. As a matter of fact, Ceylon 
lacks many of the advantages possessed by the British Isles as 
a centre for the study of the subject. 
It does not lie athwart the main thoroughfares of migration, 
while in the tropics the proportion of migrant birds is fewer. 
Above all, we lack the incomparable observation stations 
which surround the British Isles in abundance. * To quote 
Mr. Eagle Clarke once more :* “In connection with the geo- 
graphical aspect of migration, it is impossible to over-estimate 
the value of observations made at islands, 7.e., small islands, 
and rock stations, and other places removed from the usual 
haunts resorted to by the various species. At such stations to 
see certain birds is to know at once that they are migrating, 
for under no other conditions would these particular species be 
found there. The most unsatisfactory of all observations are 
those made inland. Here individuals of many species moving 
to other quarters are most difficult, if not impossible, to dis- 
tinguish from the native representatives of the same species. 
In addition, the area, and in many cases the cover, is so 
extensive that few, very few, of the birds passing through any 
district come under notice. One never knows what is in the 
next field or the next bit of cover, while woods are hopeless, it 
being impossible to ascertain the smaller migrants which are 
nesting in them.” 
The few lighthouses in Ceylon, with the exception of 
Colombo, lie away from the main routes of migration ; 
Colombo lighthouse is in the middle of the town, and does not 
seem to attract any remarkable number of birds. The open 
grassy extents on the Galle Face, the racecourse, and the 
golf links are among the best stations obtainable. Probably 
a good deal might be done on some of the islands between 
Mannar and Point Pedro, but Ceylon will never be a paradise 
for the recorder of general migratory movements, though, as 
I shall show later, in one or two respects our opportunities 
are unique. 
— 

* «Studies in Bird Migration,” Vol. I., Chap IV. 
