166 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 



which is rocky and precipitous, and full of gullies and crevices. 

 I also saw a drawing of one procured at Ratnapoora by Mr. Mit- 

 ford of that place. He told me, he observed two of these birds, 

 frequenting a tree in full flower, and capturing the beetles which 

 flew about it ; at last he shot one with an air gun, and the other 

 left the place. The eyes of this species, like those of the Noc- 

 turnal Raptoi'es, exhibit considerable luminosity, and partake of 

 the same internal form. 



33. Caprimulgus Asiaticus, Lath., 



and 



34. Caprimulgus Maharattensis, Sykes. Ra-bassa, Cing, 

 Pay-marrettey, Mai. ; lit. Cheating Devil. 



The last of these birds is abundant in the vicinity of Colombo, 

 and throughout the Southern province ; mingled with C. Asia- 

 ticus, which predominates in the North almost to its total exclu- 

 sion. In habits the two species are precisely similar. Hiding 

 during the day under the umbrageous shelter of a thick bush, 

 the nightjars avoid the " garish eye of day," and only venture 

 forth when twilight or the softened eff"ulgence of the moon's 

 rays afford it that description of light for which its vision is so 

 admirably adapted. At these times, till morning dawns, or the 

 moon sets (they do not venture forth during the darkness), 

 their " churring " cry may be heard in every direction ; and the 

 belated traveller hurrying homeward ere the last dying gleams 

 of the setting sun fade in the west, is startled by what seemed a 

 stone flying up with a few rapid querulous notes, and gliding 

 along on noiseless pinions settling again within a few yards of 

 him. 



During the warm rainy evenings when the white-ant hills 

 send forth their winged hosts to propagate fresh swarms of ra- 

 vagers, the Caprimulgi are actively engaged (assisted by the 

 crows and bats) in thinning their numbers ; their undulating 

 motions are at these times particularly elegant and graceful, and 

 I have watched them with delight till I could no longer distin- 

 guish them amid the darkening landscape. They never appear 

 to fly high ; in this pursuit they seldom rise beyond 15 or 20 feet ; 

 the bats thin the next rank ; and above the tree-tops, evidently 

 to have the benefit of the little remaining light, the crows eagerly 

 pursue those ants which escape from the carnage below. 



During my residence in Canada, I was sui'priscd both by the 

 prodigious number of " Fern Owls " which nightly made their 

 appearance hunting in company, and also at the great altitude they 

 attained in their airy gyrations. Here, as before stated, this is 

 not the case, and it is a solitaiy bird, at most only seen in pairs. 



