326 COLLOCALIA FRANCICA. 



the " Haycock " mountain, as also another in the Nitre-cave district. Besides these there are, I believe, 

 colonies in the "Friars-Hood" or some of the surrounding rock-hills and in Rittagalla, the above- 

 mentioned mountain situated between the Central and Trincornalie roads. The celebrated cave in the 

 Haputale range, and the only one which I have had the good fortune to visit, is situated in a bold peak 

 standing out above and towering over the Dambetenne and adjoining estates, which form one of the finest 

 sweeps of coffee-ground in Ceylon. On a sultry day in May 1876, my friend Mr. Bligh and myself set out 

 from Catton bungalow to see the Swifts' cave. A long tramp round the adjacent spur brought us to the gorge 

 in which lies the fine estate of Mousakella, np which we toiled, gradually winding our way up the zigzag paths, 

 and at last reached the inviting shade of the tall forest crowning the top of the ridge. Here our journey was 

 enlivened by the notes of the usual denizens of these belts of fine jungle; and as we trudged along, listening to 

 the clear, strong whistle of the Grey-headed Flycatcher, the churr of the handsome Trogon, and the twittering 

 of the brilliant " Sultan-bird" (Pericrocotus flammeus), we congratulated ourselves that we had reached the 

 highest point of our journey (6000 feet), and that we had but a short and immediate descent to our destination. 

 Another half-mile and we had passed over the ridge aud came into sudden view of the glorious prospect 

 beneath, such a one as only can be witnessed in the higher ranges of the beautiful Central Province. Before 

 us lay a magnificent amphitheatre, the top of it a dark sweep of forest, and the middle a splendid basin of 

 coffee, consisting of the Dambetenne and Piteratmalie estates, in luxuriant growth, between which and ourselves 

 a narrow ravine ran down from the range on our right and suddenly opened out into an abysmal gorge, the 

 wooded slopes of which stretched up to the foot of the coffee. In these woods Mr. Bligh, some years previous, 

 had discovered the handsome Whistling Thrush (Arrenga bliglti). At a point where the great gorge suddenly 

 commenced, by a sheer precipice dropping down about 1000 feet into the lower estate, stood the fine bungalow 

 occupied by the gentleman, Mr. Imray, who was to be our kind host for the night ; and at the back of this, 

 at the top of a rich slope of coffee, towered up a rocky buttress, in which the Swiftlets of Haputale propagate 

 their species. In this precipice a vast boulder, about 70 feet in height and 50 in breadth, has at some period 

 slipped away from the face of the mountain, and leans against it at an angle of about 30°, forming a lofty 

 narrow cavern. Here about 300 pairs of birds have their nests built against the inner side of the boulder, 

 which is convex and corresponds with the concave face of the main mass. There are no nests on this latter, 

 down which there is doubtless a considerable amount of drainage ; and the instinct of the little birds is here 

 wonderfully displayed in rejecting the wet side of the cavern, which would seriously impair the stability of 

 their gelatinous nests. These are placed in tiers, one above the other, about 15 feet from the guano at the 

 bottom of the cave ; in places three or four were joined together, the back part of the under nest being 

 prolonged up to the bottom of the one above it. The little structures were by no means edible, being 

 constructed of moss and fine tendrils, arranged in layers and cemented with the inspissated saliva of the bird, 

 the back part attaching the nest to the rock, as well as the interior of the cup, being, however, entirely of this 

 material. I have seen one or two nests from Pittcgalla almost wholly made of this substance; but even these 

 were mixed, to a certain extent, with foreign or vegetable material. The interior of these Dambetenne nests 

 was in most cases oval, the longest diameter, which varied from 2 to 2i inches, being parallel to the rock. In 

 depth the egg-cup was, on the average, about 1 inch. At the date of my visit, the 22nd May, nearly all the 

 nests contained young, two being the average number. A series of eggs procured at another time, and which 

 1 have examined, were of various shapes, long ovals being the predominant ; they are pure white, and varied 

 from - 81 to 0'83 inch in length by 051 to 0'54 in breadth. It is noteworthy that the partially-fledged 

 young which were procured for me on this occasion, and which I kept for the night, scrambled out on to the 

 exterior of the nests and slept in an upright position, with the bill pointed straight up. This is evidently the 

 normal mode of roosting resorted to by the species. 



The interior of this cave, with its numbers of active tenants, presented a singular appearance. The bottom 

 was filled with a vast deposit of liquid guano, reaching, I was informed, to a depth of 30 feet, and composed of 

 droppings, old nests, and dead young fallen from above, the whole mingled into a loathsome mass with the 

 water lodged in the crevice, and causing an awful stench, which would have been intolerable for a moment 

 even had not the hundreds of frightened little birds, as they screamed and whirred in and out of the gloomy 

 cave with a hum like a storm in a ship's rigging, powerfully excited my interest and induced a prolonged 

 examination of the colony. This guano-deposit is a source of considerable profit to the estate, the hospitable 



