162 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XI. 



kinds of these entirely disappeared. Finally the mongoose developed a 

 ravenous desire for bananas, pineapples, young corn, avocado pears, cocoas, 

 yams, and the sugarcanes which it had been called in to protect, winding up 

 its tastes with an appetite for salt meat. 



The result was a wholesale disappearance of species. A few birds, like the 

 ground dove, had the sense to shift their breeding places to the tops of the 

 prickly cacti, where they were safe ; but other animals, and the reptiles in 

 particular, suffered so severely that many kinds were believed for years to be 

 extinct. As a consequence there arose yet another plague. Insects like the 

 ticks and " jiggers " (or chigors) which used to be kept down by the snake, 

 increased so overpoweringly that men and cattle were grievously infested. 

 One could not walk without being covered with them. 



The victory over the island remained with the tick and the mongoose, 

 until, within the past year or two, a fresh stage set in. The mongoose 

 suddenly began to be less plentiful, and it was found that he had fallen a 

 victim to the tick. The results of the diminution are shown in a gradual 

 re-appearance of other beasts, birds and reptiles. Among the snakes there is 

 a very marked increase, and even the ground lizard, supposed to be quite 

 extinct, has become common again. The balance of life has begun to re-assert 

 itself, and naturalists will watch with curiosity for a complete re-instatement 

 of the previous fauna. The renewed depredations of rats are hailed as an 

 advent of salvation, and odd as it may sound, the increase in numbers of the 

 crocodile is taken as a happy omen. The Jamaicans are not likely to make 

 further experiments in this interesting domain of natural history, but will 

 adhere in future to such present evils as they have. 



No. XII. -ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE LESSEE COUCAL 

 (CENTROPUS BENGALENSIS, BLYTH.) IN CEYLON. 



I am sending herewith the skin (a terribly mutilated one) of a bird, which I 

 take to be Centrojpus hengalensis, Blyth (the Lesser Coucal). I picked it 

 out from a lot of common birds collected by a Native in the Karunegala 

 District of the North-Western Provinces during March and April last year. I 

 do not think there is any doubt as to the locality from which the skin came. 



Please state whether my identification is correct, as, if so, this is the first 

 occurrence of the bird in Ceylon, though Mr. Oates says it occurs sparingly 

 in Travancore and the Wynaad, etc. 



A. L. BUTLER. 



Ceylon, 18<7j March, 1897. 



[The skin has been carefully examined by Mr. E. Comber, and there appears to be no 

 doubt as to the correct identification of the specimen, — Ed,] 



