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



away. They feed on the small waders which frequent the borders 

 of the salt pans. I shot the first specimen (a male) early in the 

 month, but the female was so shy, that though I long remained 

 concealed near the nest, she never afforded me a shot, and I was 

 obliged to return home without her. I was surprised to find 

 another male on the same nest when I revisited the spot at the 

 end of the month, and procured both him and his mate with a 

 double shot. 



12. Ealco peregrin A.TOR, Sund. 



I was sitting late one evening in a native hut in Gillymally, at 

 the foot of Adam's Peak, when Muttoo (my factotum bird-stuffer, 

 hunter, and horsekeeper) came to tell me that a huge swift 

 {Acanthylis caudacuta) which I had long desired to procure was 

 sitting on a leafless tree crowning the summit of the hill, under 

 which the hut was built. Hun-ying out with the guns, Muttoo 

 and I were about to scale the hill, when I saw something fall 

 from the perch on which sat the bird, which I also mistook for 

 a swift, so much did its wings overlap its tail. I directed the 

 telescope, which I always carry, towards the bird, and to my sur- 

 prise, the hour being so late, perceived a hawk (entirely new to 

 the Ceylon fauna) devouring a small thrush. By this time 

 Muttoo, unperceived, had approached within gun-shot of the 

 lovely bird, and I saw the long barrel of my collecting gun slowly 

 emerge from a favouring bush : an instant and the deadly tube 

 was steady, the next its tiny flame burst forth, and ere the ring- 

 ing report died away, the bird lay dead at the foot of the tree. 

 This is the only instance in which the bird has been seen in 

 Ceylon. 



13. TiNNUNCULUs ALAUDARius, Briss. Wallooru, Mai. 



This bold little hawk is common throughout the island on all 

 open plains dotted with jungle. They generally hunt in couples, 

 sometimes skimming low over the bushes or along the ground 

 and darting on their prey, sometimes hovering in the air and 

 pouncing down on the larks, amadavats, and the other small 

 birds on which they feed. I never found the nest of this species, 

 although so abundant. 



14. Hypotriorchis chicquera, Shaw. 



I saw this pretty hawk in the flat country near Pt. Pedro, but 

 could not get a shot at it. I cannot, however, be mistaken in 

 the bird, as I long watched it with my telescope. 



15. Baza lophotes, Temm. 

 This bird, though rare in Ceylon, appears to be widely distri- 



