INTKODTTCTION. xxi 



the end of May, when the south-west wind again blows with greater violence than before, for in some 

 years the " little monsoon " is not by any means strong. The rain at this period is also much 

 more continuous, and sometimes very heavy downfalls are experienced, as in 1876, when 

 11 inches fell at Colombo in twenty-four hours. At this time of the year perfectly different 

 weather is experienced on the east coast, when the same south-west wind, deprived of its moisture 

 by its passage over great tracts of forest, has become intensely dry and almost warm. After the 

 burst of the monsoon is over the wind gradually lessens throughout the months of July, August, 

 September, and beginning of October, when the weather again becomes sultry. The great 

 autumn migration is now setting in : myriads of Sandpipers, Stints, and shore-birds in general are 

 now travelling southward from Northern Asia, and some species, as the Pintailed Snipe and the 

 Golden Plover, arrive on the north coast, and even reach the south-western district (Galle) as 

 early as the middle of September ; at the same time Warblers and Wagtails arrive in the island 

 and rapidly spread over the country. 



About the middle of October, and sometimes as early as the first week in that month, the 

 first signs of the N.E. monsoon may be looked for on the east coast. Heavy thunderstorms 

 coming from the land every afternoon betoken the breaking up of the S.W. monsoon ; they 

 continue for about a fortnight, and then the wind, with rain, sets in from the north-east ; at 

 the same time on the west coast heavy thunderstorms are experienced every evening, which, in 

 the same manner as those which preceded them on the east coast, take place later each con- 

 secutive evening until they cease. During this time migrants from India continue to arrive, and 

 a local movement of birds towards the west coast takes place. The north-east wind, which is not 

 so strong as the south-west, reaches the west coast only in the form of a- land-breeze at night, 

 which is scarcely felt until about Christmas. In the meantime, at the end of November, a strong- 

 northerly breeze sets in down the west coast ; this is locally styled the " long-shore wind," and 

 is mainly conducive in adding to the ranks of migrants of all classes, but particularly to those of 

 the Grallatorial order. Snipe now come in great numbers, and by the middle of December large 

 bags may be made in almost any good district. 



Internal Migrations. — It is natural that the prevalence of two winds blowing at different 

 seasons from opposite quarters across the island should cause a movement of species inhabiting 

 the coast districts on each side of it. This is most observable on the coast of the Western 

 Province, south of Negombo, as here the wind is damp, and, as we have just seen, accompanied 

 by heavy rains, which induce certain species to leave the sea-board and retire inland in order to 

 obtain shelter from the force of the monsoon. It would appear to any one studying the avifauna 

 of a coast-district, like that of Colombo for example, that all these birds had left that side of 

 the island ; but this is not the case, as they are mostly to be found after the rains of June in the 

 sheltered districts of the interior, not far from the coast. On the other hand, however, various 

 species which are not resident on the west coast visit it when the S.W. monsoon has died away 

 and the N.E. monsoon has commenced to blow on the east coast, tending to carry them towards 



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