( ;i9 ) 



{Halicore dagong') is a gentle creature feeding on seaweeds ; it 

 allows itself to be handled and killed without resistance. It occurs 

 off the north-west coast of Ceylon near Jaffna and Mannar, and 

 ranges from East Africa to Australia. Kelaart, one of the pioneer 

 naturalists of Ceylon, says that he saw shoals of them on the coast 

 of Arippu during the Ceylon pearl fisheries of 1835 and 1836, but 

 they are now scarce. The order Sirenia, to which the dugong 

 belongs, is represented in tropical America by the manatee. The 

 tusks of the dugong are the two upper incisors, which, with two 

 or three molars on each side of both jaws, are the only teeth found 

 in adults. 



On the top of the Dugong Case is the skeleton of a rare cetacean, 

 Pseudorca crassidens, the Lincolnshire Killer, prepared from a 

 specimen caught at Moratuwa in 1891, the first recorded from 

 Indian seas. It is said to feed on cuttle fish, whereas the true 

 grampus or killer attacks and kills the largest whales. The 

 Lincolnshire Killer owes its common name to the circumstance 

 that its skeleton was first discovered in a Lincolnshire fen. 



Besides this skeleton there is a stuffed specimen of a dolphin 

 caught at Negombo in 1883. Its identification is somewhat 

 uncertain, but it appears to be closely similar to Elliot's Dolphin 

 {Steno 'perniger'). 



The smaller mammals of Ceylon (apart from the bats and lemur) 

 comprise many species of the Rodent order (Squirrels, Rats, Mice, 

 Hares, and Porcupines). The little squirrel which is a familiar 

 figure on the trunks and branches of trees in Colombo is called 

 Sciurus palmarum. The larger tree-sqviirrel of the low-country 

 jungles in dry districts is Sciurus macrurios, locally known as the 

 Rock Squirrel or " Dandulena." The largest rat is the Bandicoot oi' 

 Pig Rat (Nesociabandicota), found in all parts of the Island from the 

 sea-level to Nuwara Eli.va. It exceeds a foot in length, exclusive of 

 the tail. Next to this in size and interest comes the Gerbille or 

 Antelope Rat {Qerhillus ^n<i^cMs), afield rat. The common House Rat 

 and the Mouse have been introduced here as to all other parts of 

 the world. The Musk Rat is more properly called the Musk Shrew 

 {Grocidura murina) ; it is not a Rodent, but belongs to the family 

 of Shrews (Soricidae) in the order Insectivora. It is common in 

 bungalows, outhouses, and compounds in Colombo, and often it 

 appears in the roads at nightfall. It is pale gray in colour, utters 

 a characteristic squeak, and has a long, tapering snout. Finally, the 

 Black-naped Hare (Lepus tiigricoUis), the Chevrotain or Mouse 

 Beer {Tragulus meminna), und the Muntjac or Rib-faced Barking 

 Deer {Gervulus muntjac), commonly called the Red Deer, must be 

 mentioned. 



