NOTES MADE DURING A CRUISE TO THE EAST. 263 
excursions made during the cruise, for there were many such, 
but some account of our stay in Ceylon may be interesting. The 
first thing to attract the notice of a naturalist would assuredly 
be the number of Crows (Corvus splendens) and Brahmini Kites 
in Colombo Harbour. They are both invaluable scavengers, and — 
consequently nobody thinks of disturbing them. The tameness 
of the Crows was extraordinary, and the ship’s cat had a most 
tantalizing time with them, as they did everything but allow 
him to catch them. I never saw a Kite perched in the rigging, 
though they were constantly round the ship. The Crows would 
sit anywhere and everywhere. 
From Colombo I made my first excursion into the jungle, 
accompanied by one of the sailors, a most interesting and 
helpful companion. I caught an early train to a place called 
Padukka, some twenty-five miles from Colombo, and from there 
we proceeded in a bullock-hackory towards Labugama, where 
are the reservoirs containing the water-supply for Colombo. 
The first thing of note was a large Rat-Snake, lazily sunning 
itself; they also are protected by the natives, being great de- 
stroyers of vermin. 
Butterflies and a few day-flying moths were to be seen, 
among the butterflies the most noticeable being the stately 
Ornithoptera darsius, but they were flying at a great height, and 
were quite unapproachable. Many fine species were captured, 
including some beautiful members of the ‘‘Blue” family. Large 
arboreal wasp-nests were common, and many termite mounds 
were to be seen. 
The well-known scarcity of life during the heat of the day 
in tropical countries was most emphatically manifested here— 
not a butterfly in the sun, and only a few on the wing seeking 
resting-places in the dense jungle —not a bird on the move; all 
retire till the burn of the midday sun has lessened. 
We returned in time for dinner, and on changing my clothes 
I found several well-filled leeches adhering to my person, but 
have not suffered any discomfort from their presence. It was at 
this same place that I noticed a curious phenomenon on our 
return journey in March. A certain handsome day-flying moth 
(Dichromia orosia) was to be seen commonly among the thin 
scrub beneath the palm trees, but its flight was very erratic and 
