xvi INTRODUCTION. 



region, the hills of South India were just as much connected with Malacca as those of Ceylon. 

 A closely allied Swallow to our " peculiar " Hirundo hyperythra is found in Malacca ; and 

 Malayan genera of Pigeons (Carpophaga, Osmotreron, and Chalcqphaps) are also found in Ceylon, 

 and perhaps to a greater extent, when we look at its small geographical area, than in 

 India. Certain Australian and Malayan birds, such as Haliaetus leucogaster, Coturnix chinensis 

 (found also in China), Mycteria australis, extend into Ceylon, not to mention the Waders 

 (Limicolce), which range from Asia thence to the Australian continent, taking in Ceylon in their 

 path. 



The island, however, is not dependent on these latter for its migratorial Waders, in which, 

 as also in some water-birds (Anatidse), it is very rich. It forms, in fact, the southernmost Asiatic 

 limit of the flight of many European and Asiatic Grallatorial and Natatorial forms ; and hence 

 the large numbers of these birds which are found in the cool season along its shores. Of these 

 the following species are noteworthy : — Scolopax rusticula, Gatlinago nemoricola, Machetes 

 pugnax, Tringa minuta, Totanus ochropus, Totanus fuscus, Tringa minuta, Limosa cegocephala, 

 Himantopus candid us, Securvirostra avocetta, (Edicnemus scolopax, Hcematopns ostralegus, 

 Anas acuta, Anas circia, Anas crecca, and Phoenicopterus roseus. 



Geographical Features and Inland Distribution . — Having now considered the important 

 question of the affinities of the Ceylonese avifauna it is necessary to notice the geographical 

 features of the island as bearing upon the inland distribution of the birds inhabiting it. Ceylon is 

 an island of about 270 miles in length and 138 in breadth, lying between lat. 5° 50' and 9° 50' N., 

 and between long. 79° 40' and 61° 50' E. ; it is separated from the mainland of India by a shallow 

 strait 35 miles wide, which is traversed by a chain of islands, between which lies a long sandy 

 shoal called Adam's Bridge, which is alternately raised and lowered on the north and south by 

 the action of N.E. and S.W. monsoons. For ornithological purposes the island may be divided 

 into four regions or districts — the dry forests of the entire north and south-east, the arid mari- 

 time belts of the north-west and south-east coasts, the damp Western-Province region, and the 

 hill-zones of the Central and Southern Provinces. The northern part of the island consists of a vast 

 plain covered with forest, except near the sea, where, particularly on the north-west coast, there are 

 open tracts studded with low thorny jungle. This region is called in the present work the 

 " northern forest-tract," and is here and there studded with very rocky abrupt hills, rising suddenly 

 out of the forest-clad plain. Sigiri, Rittagalla, and Mahintale rock are some of the most notable 

 among these acclivities. This region, which lies to the north of the high land intercepting 

 the moisture brought up from the ocean by the S.W. and N.E. monsoons, is alternately swept 

 by a dry westerly and easterly wind, and is covered with tolerably luxuriant forest and wild 

 secondary jungle, inhabited chiefly by members of those Indian families which are most strongly 

 represented in the island, the Flycatchers, Drongos, Barbets, Bulbuls, Babblers (Timaliidse), and 

 Cuckoos, but also contains many of the forest-loving " peculiar " forms, which have their 

 stronghold further south. The northern forest-tract likewise is the home of many of the larger 



