166 



ZOOLOGY. 



[Part II 



I. AcciPiTRES. Eagles. — The Eagles, however, are 

 small, and as compared with other countries rare ; ex- 

 cept, perhaps, the crested eagle \ which haunts the 

 mountain provinces and the lower hills, disquieting the 

 peasantry by its ravages amongst their poultry ; and the 

 gloomy serpent eagle ^, which, descending from its eyrie 

 in the lofty jungle, and uttering a loud and plaintive 

 cry, sweeps cautiously around the lonely tanks and 

 marshes, where it feeds upon the reptiles on their 

 margin. The largest eagle is the great sea Erne^, 

 seen on the northern coasts and the salt lakes of the 

 eastern provinces, particularly when the receding tide 

 leaves bare an expanse of beach, over which it hunts, 

 in company with the fishing eagle ^, sacred to Siva. 

 Unhke its companions, however, the sea eagle rejects 

 garbage for hving prey, and especiaUy for the sea 

 Snakes which abound on the northern coasts. These 

 it seizes by descending with its wings half closed, and, 

 suddenly darting down its talons, it soars aloft agam 

 with its Avrithing victim.^ 



Hawks. — The beautiful Peregrine Falcon ^ is rare, 

 but the Kestrel '' is found almost universally ; and the 

 bold and daring Goshawk^ wherever wild crags and 

 precipices afford safe breeding places. In the dis- 

 trict of Anarajapoora, where it is trained for hawking, it 

 is usual, in heu of a hood, to darken its eyes by means 

 of a silken thread passed through holes in the eyehds. 

 The ignoble bu-ds of prey, the Kites ^, keep close by the 



' Spizaetus limnaetus, Horsf. 



^ Ilsematomis clieela, Daud. 



3 Pontoaetus leucogaster, Gmel. 



* Haliastur indiis, Bodd. 



^ E. L. Layard. Europeans liave 

 given this bird the name of the 

 " Brahminy Kite," probably from ob- 

 serving the superstitious feeling of 

 the natives regarding it, who believe 

 that when two armies are about to 

 engage, its appearance prognosticates 

 victory to the party over whom it 

 hovers. 



^ Falco peregruius, Linn. 



'' Tinnunculus alaudarius, Briss. 



^ Astur trivirgatus, Jemm. 



^ Milvus goviuda, Sykes. Dr. 

 Hamilton Buchanan remarks that 

 when gorged this bird delights to sit 

 on the entablature of buildings, expo- 

 sing its back to the hottest rays of 

 the sun, placing its breast against the 

 wall, and stretching out its wings 

 exactly as the Eyyptian Hawh is re- 

 presented on their monuments. 



