THE FIRST VOLUME. 



Vll 



P-ge 

 Singhalese belief in the efficacy 



of charms . . . (note) 139 



Leopards 139 



Curious belief . . . .140 

 Anecdotes of leopards . . .142. 



Palm-cat 144 



Civet .144 



Dogs 144 



Jackal 145 



The horn of the jackal . . .145 



Mungoos 145 



Its fights with serpents . . 146 

 Theory of its antidote . . . 147 



Squirrels . . * 148 



Flying squirrel . . . . 148 



Tree rat 149 



Story of a rat and a snake . . 149 



Coffee rat 149 



Bandicoot 150 



Porcupine 150 



Pengolin 151 



Ruminantia. The Gaur . . .151 



Oxen . 152 



Humped cattle . . . .152 

 Encounter of a cow and a leopard 153 



Buffaloes 154 



Sporting buffaloes . . .155 



Peculiar structure of the hoof . 155 



Deer ...... 156 



Meminna . . . .... 157 



Elephants 158 



Whales 158 



General view of the mammalia of 



Ceylon 159 



List of Ceylon mammalia . . . 159 

 Curious parasite of the bat (note) 161 



CHAP. II. 



BIRDS. 



Their numbers .... 



Songsters 



1 lornbills, the " bird with two heads 



Peafowl 



Sea birds, their number 



I. Accipitres. Eagles 



Falcons and hawks 

 Owls the devil bird 



II. Passeres. Swallows 



Kingfishers sunbirds 

 Bul-bul tailor bird and w 

 Crows, anecdotes of 



III. Scansores. Parroquets 



I V. ColuiMdee. Pigeons 



V. Gcdlinte. Jungle-fowl 



VI. Grallce. Ibis, stork, &c. 



VII. Anseres. Flamingoes 

 Pelicans . 



Game. Partridges, &c. 

 List of Ceylon birds . 

 List of birds peculiar to Ceylon 



CHAP. III. 



163 

 163 

 164 

 165 



166 



1(17 

 167 

 L68 

 I6fl 



17(1 

 172 

 178 

 174 

 175 

 175 

 176 

 17.; 



177 



180 



Lizards. Iguana . . . .182 

 Kabragoya, barbarous custom in pre- 

 paring the cobra-tel poison (note) 183 



Page 

 The green calotes . . . .184 



Chameleon 184 



Ceratophora 185 



Geckoes, their power of reproduc- 

 ing limbs .... 185, 186 



Crocodiles 186 



Their power of burying themselves 



in the mud 187 



Tortoises. Curious parasite . . 188 

 Land tortoises .... 189 



Edible turtle 190 



Huge Indian tortoises . (note) 190 

 Hawk's-bill turtle, barbarous mode 



of stripping it of the tortoise-shell 190 

 Serpents. Venomous species rare . 191 

 Cobra de capello . . . .192 

 Instance of land snakes found at sea 193 

 Tame snakes . . . (note) 193 

 Singular tradition regarding the 



cobra de capello . . .194 

 Uropeltidaj. New species discover- 

 ed in Ceylon . . . .195 

 Buddhist veneration for the co- 

 bra de capello . . .195 

 Anecdotes of snakes . . .196 



The Python 196 



Water snakes . . . .197 



Snake stones 197 



Analysis of one .... 199 

 Caecilia ... . . .201 



Large frogs 202 



Tree frogs 202 



List of Ceylon reptiles . . .203 



CHAP. IV." 



Ichthyology of Ceylon, little known . 205 

 Fish for table, seir fish ... 205 

 Sardines, poisonous ? . . . . 206 



Sharks 207 



Saw-fish 207 



Fish of brilliant colours . . . 207 

 Curious fish described by^Elian (note) 207 

 Fresh- water fish, little" known, not 



much eaten 208 



Fresh-water fish in Colombo Lake . 209 

 Immense profusion of fish in the 



rivers and lakes .... 209 

 Their re -appearance after rain . . 209 

 Mode of fishing in the ponds . .210 



Showers of fish 210 



Conjecture that the ova are preserved, 



not tenable 212 



Fish moving on dry land . . . 213 



Instances in Guiana . (note) 214 



Perca Scandens, ascends trees .215 



Doubts as to the story of Daldorf . 217 



Fishes burying themselves during the 



dry season 218 



The protopterus of the Gambia . 218 

 Instances in the fish of the Nile . 218 

 Instances in the fish of South Ame- 

 rica 219 



Living fish dug out of the ground 



in the dry tanks in Ceylon . 220 

 Other anim'jils that so bury them- 

 selves, Melanice, Ampullarite, &c. 220 



