58 INDIAN PIGEONS AND DOVES 
“In the South of Ceylon I found they fed much on wild dates ; 
an example I shot near Galle had its crops almost extended to bursting 
with the fruit. They are fond of frequenting hedges of fruit-bearing 
trees on open land, and I have often seen them frequenting rows of 
the common ‘ Cadaru’ tree, although there can be nothing, of course, 
in the large nauseous fruit of that tree to tempt them.” 
Layard says that vast numbers are killed in the southern and 
western Provinces, as these birds swarm to the tree for the time being 
in fruit. They appear, according to him, to be always shot in the 
trees rather than in the more sporting manner carried out in Assam 
and India where, as already narrated, a perching bird is practically 
never shot, all being killed as they flight to and from their feeding- 
places. How numerous they are may be realized from what Layard 
says of his own shooting—when firing at one bird in the tree he 
‘“‘ brought down seven or eight others which he could not see.” 
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