BIRDS OF COLOMBO. Ill 



Family RALLIDM. 



(1395) Rallina superciliaris (the Banded Crake). Migrant. 



Blandford, Fauna Br. Ind. (Birds), IV., p. 167 ; Legge, Birds 

 of Ceylon, p. 772. 

 A migrant arriving in October, when numbers are caught in 

 Colombo in an exhausted state. It appears to stay only a few days, 

 and then goes up to the hills. On their arrival they are frequently 

 found in compounds and even in bungalows, where they are easily 

 caught. The head and neck are chestnut, the remainder of the 

 plumage olive-green, except the breast and under parts, which are 

 spotted or banded black and white. They thrive well in captivity. 



(1401) Amaurornis phoenicurus (the White-breasted Water Hen). 



Resident. 



Blandford, Fauna Br. Ind. (Birds), IV., p. 173 ; Legge, Birds 

 of Ceylon, p. 786. 



Frequents Colombo lake, but I think its numbers are dwindling, 

 owing to encroachment on the shores. Head, neck, and breast 

 white, upper parts slatj^-gray and olive-green. Rump brown, 

 under parts chestnut. It is a very noisy bird. The extraordinary 

 notes it produces are unequalled by any other wader. E. H. Aitken 

 (known as E. H. A., author of "Tribes on my Frontier," "Behind 

 the Bungalow," &c.) says : " Anything more unearthly proceeding 

 from the throat of a bird I never heard. It began with loud harsh 

 roars, which might have been elicited from a bear by roasting it 

 slowly over a large fire, then suddenly changed to a clear note, 

 repeated like the coo of a dove." 



Family CHARADRIWM. 



Sub-family CHAiiADiiiiN.a:. 



(1430) Strepsilas interpres (the Turnstone). 



Blandford, Fauna Br. Ind. (Birds), IV., p. 223 ; Legge, Birds 

 of Ceylon, p. 900. 

 I have only met with this bird once on the Galle Face sands, in 

 October. 



(1437) Chettusia gregaria (the Sociable Lapwing). Migrant. 



Blandford, Fauna Br. Ind. (Birds), IV., p. 231 ; Legge, Birds 

 of Ceylon, p. 959. 

 I observed this bird for the first time during the cool season of 

 1906-7, when a flock of seven took up their quarters on the race- 

 course. Since then I have only seen a solitary example at the same 

 place in January of last year. The flock of seven were extraordinarily 

 tame , allowing even equestrians to come up close to them before 

 taking flight. This t3^ical Plover can readily be distinguished by 

 the large amount of white in the wings, which is very conspicuous 

 when the bird flies. 



