CEYLON nATUrAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 287 



disputed question by submitting a living example of the animal, 

 with full particulars of the circumstances of its capture. 



Similarly, while the continent of India produces nine distinct 

 species of " short-tailed field mice," or voles, not a single species 

 is credited to Ceylon. As I pointed out in a recent number of 

 Spolia Zeylanica, I am confident that we have at least one species 

 of vole in the Island. I have myself seen what I believe- to be 

 one of these animals on the Horton Plains, and other competent 

 observers have assured me that they have seen mice answering 

 to this description. Not realizing the interest attaching to this 

 matter, they have not troubled to capture and examine the animals. 

 Who will acquire the credit of sending to the Colombo Museum the 

 first specimen of a true Ceylon vole ? 



For those who are interested in bird life , I would draw attention 

 to the probable occurrence of an unsuspected bkd in the hilly parts 

 of Ceylon. I refer to one of the smallest of the hawk tribe, a 

 falconet, three species of which are found in India. The first 

 suggestion of the presence of such a bird came to me through a 

 planter in Hewaheta, who described to me how he had seen two 

 blackbirds fighting, and how one of them had killed the other and 

 had flown away with it. I had, later, the good fortune to witness 

 a similar occurrence myself. In this case the victim was a common 

 " bulbul." I was attracted by its cries of distress, and came upon 

 the scene just in time to see it disappearing over the trees in the 

 clutches of a tiny dark-coloured hawk that looked no bigger than 

 itself. Naturally, I had no gun with me, and so was unable to verify 

 my observation. If our falconet is identical with one of the Indian 

 species, it will probably prove to be Microhierax fringillarius, the 

 smallest of the three, which ranges through the southern portion of 

 Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. This 

 species is said to feed more exclusively upon bu'ds. 



There is in Ceylon a carnivorous bat. the Meyaderma (of which 

 we have two species). When I say " carnivorous," I mean that it 

 is not content with the insect fare of ordinary bats, but has a craving 

 for real meat. Such ammals as mice, small bh'ds, lizards, and 

 frogs are amongst its victims, and their remains can often be seen 

 in the ^'erandahs of our bungalows, below the spot where one of 

 these bats has hung itself up to consume its prey. I have watched 

 Meyaderma flying low over the gi-ass, in the dusk, evidently search- 

 ing for lizards and frogs ; but it is difficult to understand how they 

 effect the capture of the small birds that, to judge by their remains, 

 form such a large part of the diet of this bloodthirsty vampire. 

 Such birds usually roost in the depths of a bush, where — it might 

 be thought — -they would be well out of the reach of a bat, which 

 requires open spaces for the employment of its wmgs. Does it 

 scent out its sleeping prey, creep into the bush, and pounce upon 

 it there V 



