108 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
striking distance, but showed their impatience by picking up bits of 
sticks and biting them viciously. I am afraid that the defenceless 
little animal would have had small chance of eventual escape if I 
had not interfered. I drove the birds away and placed the hare in 
a cage, liberating it the next day when the crows had found other 
occupation. 
Our local crow is the larger and more formidable hill species, 
Corone macrorhyncha. They are most pertinaceous marauders of 
the fowl yard. Newly-hatched chickens have to be confined within 
coops where these birds abound. They are systematic robbers of 
birds’ nests, and frequently kill other birds. I saw a pair of crows 
single out a parrot from a small flock, drive it away from its 
companions, and knock it to the ground. There the parrot showed 
fight, and kept the crows at-bay until I came to the rescue. f 
picked up the parrot (getting severely bitten for my kind intentions), — 
drove off the crows, and liberated the victim, which appeared to be 
uninjured. In a moment the crows reappeared and took up 
the chase. The parrot was brought to earth again, and was rescued 
a second time. On this occasion I thought it best to keep it in 
confinement until the crows had lost sight of their anticipated prey. 
The amusing manner in which a crow will bamboozle a dog out 
of a bone has been described more than once, but may be repeated 
again from personal experience, as I have seen the game played 
with my own dog on my own lawn. The mancuvre is always 
worked by a pair of the birds. The dog is happily engaged with a 
bone on the grass. One of the conspirators quietly takes up his 
position behind, while the other approaches the dog from in front. 
The dog growls, but the crow gradually sidles nearer. Finally the 
dog leaves his bone and drives off the intruder. Having easily - 
effected this, he returns expecting to enjoy his meal in peace. 
But, in the meantime, the second crow has seized his opportunity 
and has removed the bone of contention to the branch of a neigh- 
bouring tree, where he is joined by his comrade. I have seen the 
same tactics employed against a domestic fowl that had secured a 
savoury morsel. 
EK. ERNEST GREEN. 

6. The Ceylon Giant Tortoise—The following letter was written 
by me to the ‘‘ Indian Field ” in answer to a correspondent who had 
confused the famous Colombo tortoise, which died in 1894, with 
one which is supposed to be still living at Matara:—‘ I have had 
my attention drawn to an article in the ‘ Indian Field,’ which speaks 
of a giant tortoise at Matara. There is no doubt that if such a 
tortoise exist at Matara, it is not the one which was found in Colombo 
at the time of the British occupation in 1796. This famous tortoise 
lived for many years in the grounds of a villa called * Uplands,’ 
