68 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



which one hears when, after a prolonged drought, there is a heavy 

 downpour of rain. But the " song " of the fish is more subdued. 

 Whether these observations will suggest a clue is more than I can 

 say. 



C. DRIEBERG. 



7. Grows as Diggers and Weeders. — At Wehgama resthouse on the 

 morning of May 15 1 watched a company of crows actively engaged 

 in digging the soil and wrenching out grass plants with their beaks, 

 cawing lustily at the same time. This was after a heavy shower 

 of rain. I tried to assign a purpose to this digging and weeding 

 operation combined, but without satisfactory issue. 



(1) The grass was wanted for nest making, but it was not being 

 carried away. If it is supposed that the grass was being left to 

 wither before use, why were the birds working fresh areas when 

 there was so much dry grass lying about as the result of previous 

 work ? 



(2) The crows were in search of bulbs of the nut grass (S. Kalan- 

 duru), Cyperus rotundus, but the grass on examination proved to be 

 wild kurakkan (S. Belatana), Eleusine indica, and there was 

 no nut grass about. 



(3) The birds were digging for earthworms, but I did not observe 

 any worms being unearthed and swallowed. Besides, the whole- 

 sale uprooting of grass seemed hardly necessary to get at them. 

 The resthouse-keeper who examined the ground declared that there 

 were no traces of worms. In the absence of direct corroboration of 

 any of the above theories, I am inclined to think the last the most 

 plausible, i.e., that the crows were in search of earthworms, which 

 are known to come up to the surface after rain and there deposit their 

 casts. In this instance the birds might have been on the Avrong 

 track. That they have a great partiality for earthworms carmot 

 be denied, £tnd their behaviour on the occasion referred to may 

 be taken as an indication of the pains they will take to get at the 

 worms, for hoeing up the ground and wrenching out grass tufts 

 cannot be very easy work for a crow. 



Some one suggested the idea — rather far fetched to my mind — 

 that the birds were only amusing themselves, with no other object 

 than giving way to a sense of exhilaration. 



C. DRIEBERG. 



