HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



through which a stream flows near Nalande the Nalande 

 Oya but they are not to be found there now. Captain 

 Legge also says there may be a colony near Mihintale, and 

 I think there may be a colony on Dimbulagalakande 

 (Gunner's Quoin), on the east side of the Mahaweliganga 

 in Tamankaduwa district of the North Central Province. 

 I have found them wary when flighting or resting, and 

 not easy to get within shot of. They are good eating. 



The imperial green pigeon (Carpophaga <enea) is cer- 

 tainly the grandest pigeon to be met with in Ceylon. 



Length 15.5 to 16.2 inches; bill greeny-bluish; legs 

 and feet lake-red ; claws olive-green. 



Head, neck, and throat bluish-grey ; forehead, close to 

 base of bill, whitish ; back, upper tail coverts, and wings 

 dark blue-green, with a coppery lustre viewed against the 

 light ; in fact, roughly speaking, wanting the white head, 

 this bird is a very large edition of the bronze-wing, though 

 its colours are duller and darker. 



This magnificent bird is quite common in all the forest- 

 clad portions of the low country. Usually shy and wary, 

 alighting in the extreme tops of the highest trees it can 

 find in the forest, it is not easy to stalk, though towards 

 evening good flighting shots may often be got. It is an 

 excellent bird for the table. Its note is a guttural " wuk- 

 woo," the " woo " being a very deep sound, and the effect, 

 heard in the jungle, is quite startling. I have shot very few 

 of these grand birds. 



The Ceylon wood pigeon (Palumbus Torringtoni<e) is 

 peculiar to Ceylon. Length 13.5 to 14.3 inches; bill 

 bluish; legs and feet reddish ; claws white. Head, nape, 

 and upper throat purple-ashy, passing to a more purple 

 tint on chest, paling to a more reddish colour on the 

 belly ; hind neck and upper back reddish-bronze, with 



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