PIONEERS OF CEYLON NATURAL HISTORY. 81 



the author of a booklet on the " Enemies of the Coffee Tree," 

 published at the Times of Ceylon office in 1861. His more serious 

 Papers appeared in continental publications ; but he contributed 

 " Descriptions of New Ceylon Coleoptera " to the Journals of both 

 the Bengal and Ceylon branches of the Asiatic Society. 



Capt. W. V. Legge's " History of the Birds of Ceylon " is perhaps 

 the most complete monograph of any order of animals connected 

 with the Island. Published in 1880, it remains practically complete 

 at the present day. Not half a dozen species of birds have been 

 added to Legge's list since the date of its publication ; but much 

 still remains to be done in the study of their habits, nidification, and 

 distribution. In the pages of his work, the author acknowledges 

 the assistance of many local observers, amongst which the names of 

 Nevill, Bligh, Parker, Mac Vicar, Forbes Lawrie, Wickham, Holden, 

 Cobbold, and Wade-Dalton are prominent. To show how useful 

 such assistance may be, I will quote Legge's own words, where, in 

 speaking of his book, he says : "In conclusion, I am constrained 

 to remark that had others among my subscribers corresponded as 

 vigorously with me, during the progress of the work, as Messrs. 

 Bligh, Parker, and Mac Vicar, much more local information would 

 have been contained in it." 



S. Bligh, mentioned by Legge, published some " Notes on Rare 

 Birds," in 1874, in the Journal of the Ceylon Asiatic Society. His 

 name has been attached to " Bligh's Whistling Thrush " {Myio- 

 'phonus blighi). 



There is another name in Legge's list of contributors that deserves 

 more special mention. Hugh Nevill, a Member of the Ceylon Civil 

 Service from 1869 to 1897, was a most versatile naturalist and 

 ethnologist, and possessed a fund of information in every branch of 

 those subjects. He was equally at home in the Botany and the 

 Zoology of the Island, but paid most attention to Conchology, upon 

 which subject he contributed many Papers to the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society. To provide an outlet for his various studies, he 

 founded the " Taprobanian : A Dra vidian Journal of Oriental 

 Studies in and around Ceylon, its Natural History, Archaeology, 

 Philology, History, &c.," of which he was both editor and almost 

 sole contributor. Started in 1885, this Journal ran through three 

 volumes and ceased to exist in 1887. 



Sir William Gregory deserves recognition as the founder of the 

 Museum in which we meet to-night. He showed great interest in 

 the advancement of a knowledge of Natural History, and was 

 instrumental in the production of Moore's " Lepidoptera of 

 Ceylon." 



Stanif orth Green, a part contemporary and close friend of Ferguson , 

 Wall, and Nietner, was locally renowned for his skill in mounting 

 minute insects and other objects for the microscope. He was a 



M 6(2)12 



