64 



The verandah of the zemindar's bungalow affords a good 

 spot for the study of the common animals and birds of the 

 island. The former consist mainly of ill-conditioned pariah 

 dogs ; goats trying to extract the requisite amount of food- 

 Btulfs for the maintenance of life from dried palmyra leaves 

 and spiny Acacia planifrons, the spines of which serve as no 

 protection against the attacks of these hard-mouthed herbi- 

 vorous mammals ; and donkeys suffering from motor paresis 

 of their hind limbs. The shrill voiced palm squirrel and 

 musk-rat infested the bungalow, and a friendly mungoos 

 made repeated visits when I was at breakfast. Of birds, the 

 splendid but shameless crow^ made continual raids on my 

 specimens drying in the sun ; and parakeets screaming in a 

 neighbouring Bo tree, and screech-owls making night hideous 

 with their domestic quarrels proved a constant source of 

 irritation. 



During my stay on the island ^in 1886 the following 

 birds were shot by my shikaree ^ : — 



17. Tinnunculus alaudarius. Kestrel. 



23. Micronisus badius. Shikra. 



76. Athene brama. Spotted owlet. 

 117. Merops viridis. Indian bee-eater. 

 149. Paleeornis rosa. Eose-headed parakeet. 

 180. Brachypternus aurantius. Golden backed wood- 

 pecker. 

 197. Xantholsema indica. Crimson-breasted barbet. 

 205. Hierococcyx varius. Common hawk cuckoo. 

 212. Coccystes melanoleucos. Piedcrested cuckoo. 

 217. Centropus rufipennis. Common coucal. 

 255. Upupa nigripennis. Indian hoopoe. 

 257. Lanius erythronotus. Rufous-backed shrike. 

 260. Lanius hardwickii. Bay-backed shrike. 

 278. Dicrurus macrocercus. Common drongo shrike. 

 433. Malaeocircus griseus. White-headed babbler. 

 452. 1x03 luteolus. White-browed bush bulbul. 

 462. Pycnonotus hsemorhous. Madras bulbul. 

 467. lora zeylonica. Black-headed green bulbul. 

 475. Copsychus saularis. Magpie robin. 

 660. Corvus culminatus. Indian corby. 

 663. Corvus splendens. Indian crow. 

 684. Acridotheres tristis. Common myna. 



* Corvus splendens, vel. impudicus. 



* The technical names given correspond, as do the numbers, to those 

 used in Jerdon's Birds of India. 



