NOTES AND QUERIES. 389 



The Folk-Lore of Ceylon Birds. — A correspondent of the 'Ceylon 



Observer ' of Colombo, referring to the interest excited by Mr. Swainson's 



book on " The Folk-Lore and Provincial Names of British Birds," notes 



some points in the folk-lore of the birds of Ceylon, obtained largely in 



conversation with natives. The Devil-bird {Syrnium indrani) stands /actVe 



princeps for his evil reputation ; his cry heard in the neighbourhood of 



villages is a sure harbinger of death, and the superstitious natives are 



thrown into great consternation by its demoniac screech. The legend 



about the bird is as follows : — A jealous and morose husband, doubting the 



fidelity of his wife, killed her infant son during her absence and had it 



cooked, and on her return set it before her. She unwittingly partook of it^ 



but soon discovered that it was the body of her child by a finger which she 



found in the dish. In a frenzy she fled to the forest, and was transformed 



into a ulania, or Devil-bird, whose appalling screams represent the agonised 



cries of the bereaved mother when she left her husband's house. The 



hooting of Owls in the neighbourhood of houses is believed to bring 



misfortune on the inmates. The Magpie-robin, though one of the finest 



of the song-birds of Ceylon, is similarly tabooed ; it has a harsh grating 



screech towards evening, which is considered ominous. The quack of the 



Pond-heron flying over a house is a sign of the death of one of the inmates, 



or of a death in the neighbourhood. If the Green Pigeon [Nila kobocya) 



should happen to fly through a house, as it frequently does on account of 



its rapid and headlong flight, a calamity is impending over that house. 



Similarly with the Crow. But Sparrows are believed to bring luck, and 



are encouraged to build in the neighbourhood of houses, and are daily fed. 



The fly-catcher Bird of Paradise is called " cotton thief," because in ancient 



times it was a freebooter, and plundered the cloth merchants. As a penalty 



for its sins it was transformed into a bird and doomed to carry a white 



cotton attached to its tail. The Red-wattle Lapwing, the alarm bird of 



sportsmen, has the following legend connected with it : — It is said to 



represent a woman who committed suicide on finding herself robbed of all 



her money, amounting to thirty silver pieces, by her son-in-law. The cry 



of the bird is likened to her lament : " Give the silver, give the silver, my 



thirty pieces of silver." Its call is heard at all hours, and the stillness of 



night is broken with startling abruptness by its shrill cry. Another story 



about it is that when lying in its nest in a paddy-field, or a dry spot in a 



marsh, it lies on its back with its legs in the air, being in continual fear 



that the heavens will fall and crush its offspring. The story current about 



the Blue-black Swallow-tailed Flycatcher (Kaivudu panikkia) and its mortal 



enemy, the Crow, is that the former, like Prometheus of old, brought down 



fire from heaven for the benefit of man. The Crow, jealous of the honour, 



dipped its wings in the water and shook the drippings over the flame, 



quenching it. Since that time there has been deadly enmity between the 



