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



17. Elanus melanopterus, Daud. 



This bird is uncommon, and but two specimens have been 

 seen by myself or my hunter. The fii-st I saw near Pt. Pedro 

 and fired at it several times with dust shot, unluckily without 

 effect ; the second Muttoo killed on the Perth sugar estate on 

 the Caltura river : he described the bird as frequenting the fences 

 and stumps of felled trees in the cleared land. He observed it 

 on several days in the same locality before he finally secured it. 

 When shot, though severely wounded, it fought with great de- 

 termination. 



18. AsTUR TRiviRGATUs, Tcmm. 



This bold and daring bird is apparently confined to the moun- 

 tainous country, where it is common, waging a destructive war 

 against the hen-roost, unscared by the guns of Europeans and 

 natives, who alike join in efforts to subdue it, and rarely falling 

 a victim from its wariness and the swiftness of its attack. If the 

 luckless hen but leads her mottled brood a short distance from 

 the shelter of the yard in search of white ants or tempting grass- 

 hoppers, down swoops the " hill chieftain " from some towering 

 tree or beetling rock, and despite the fury and resistance of the 

 faithful mother, rendered fiercer by despair, the foe generally car- 

 ries off one, if not two, of her family. It breeds in the holes and 

 crevices of precipitous rocks, and when the young are captured 

 early they are trained as hunting falcons and highly prized, sell- 

 ing for a large sum ; I saw one at Anooradapoora in the pos- 

 session of a native, who refused 3/. for it, though its training 

 was not completed. By way of hoodwinking it, its master had 

 sewn up the eyelids, running the thread through them, so as to 

 draw the edges together at pleasure. 



19. ACCIPITER RADIUS. 



The " sparrow-hawk " of Europeans is very common and 

 widely distributed, feeding on small reptiles and birds. It has 

 a pleasing winnowing flight, and sometimes ascends to a great 

 altitude. I have often watched three or four wheeling round 

 each other, ascending in circles, till the eye could scarcely follow 

 them as minute specks in the clear aether. 



20. ACCIPITER NISUS. 



Included by Dr. Kelaart in his Catalogue of Ceylon birds 

 (sed non vidi). 



21. Circus Swainsonii. 



Not uncommon on open plains, frequenting paddy fields and 

 moist places in search of reptiles of all kinds, on which it feeds. 



