C|)e ^uDubon ^octettes 



SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by MABEL OSGOOD VSTRIQHT 



Address all communications to the Editor of the School Department. National 

 Association of Audubon Societies, 141 Broadway, New York City ^ 



From Ceylon 



[The following letter from one of the younger members of the National Association 

 from Ceylon will be of great interest to the readers of Bird-Lore. It is especially- 

 interesting from the fact that it shows what a bright, observant child can do in the way 

 of field observation.- — -W. D.] 



I Stepped out on the lawn one beautiful morning when I heard a dear little 

 Honeysucker singing in the camelia tree. He seemed very tame. He stood on a 

 limb about six feet above me. In a minute I saw another, and then a third. 

 They flew around in the camelia tree and snatched little insects from the leaves. 

 Then they flew on to the gutter of the bungalow, which was a few feet away. 

 They disappeared down in the gutter, and, in a second, all that one could see 

 was the splashing of water. They sat on the edge and preened their feathers 

 and repeated this for at least a dozen times. The Honeysucker is a smart- 

 looking little bird; male, back olive-green, head chestnut-brown, white ring around 

 eye, throat pale yellow, no wing-bars, bill black, nearly half an inch long; female 

 resembles male, but without yellow, and darker gray on the sides. There are a 

 great many beautiful birds in Ceylon, but many of them live at a high altitude. 

 One sees very few birds in Colombo, the chief port of Ceylon. 



Although these birds are very brilliant, they are not so fine as the Warblers, 

 Finches, etc., in America. A great many small birds on the island are destroyed 

 by a quantity of large birds, such as Hawks, Eagles, and Kestrels. I have taken 

 notes of several birds, but I am not able to give their names, as there is no book 

 I know of on birds, except one (Legge's), which is out of print. One little bird 

 that I caught sight of flew on to a nearby bush. It paused there just long enough 

 for me to see that his back was dark plum-color, neck black, breast yellow, 

 belly white. This is another kind of Honeysucker. The Ceylon Robin is a sym- 

 phony in black and white — somewhat like the Towhee in size and form, male 

 and female alike — back glossy black, neck black, breast white, also belly; two 

 white wing-bars. One sees them more in Colombo. 



The Ceylon Kingfishers are beautiful birds. The back is a turquoise-blue, 

 head maroon. I have not seen them very closely, as they are generally down in the 

 paddy (rice) fields. They have beautiful Woodpeckers on the island. They are 

 all bright green, except the head, which is brown and yellow. One of the very 

 common birds is the Wagtail. They are about the size of the Catbird. They 

 have a way of walking along jerking their tail. Male, back dark gray, breast 

 yellow, wings mixed with white. Female, the same, but with white breast. They 



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