Chap. XIH.] 
TICKS. 
471 
In the hills around Pusilawa, I have seen the haunts 
of a curious species of long-legged spiders 1 , popularly 
called " harvest-men," which congregate in hollow trees 
and in holes in the banks by the roadside, in groups of 
from fifty to a hundred, that to a casual observer look 
like bunches of horse-hair. This appearance is produced 
by the long and slender legs of these creatures, which 
are of a shining black, whilst their bodies, so small as 
to be mere specks, are concealed beneath them. The 
same spider is found in the low country near Gralle, 
but there it shows no tendency to become gregarious. 
Can it be that they thus assemble in groups in the hills 
for the sake of accumulated warmth at the cool altitude 
of 4000 feet? 
Ticks, — Ticks are to be classed among the intolerable 
nuisances to the Ceylon traveller. They live in immense 
numbers in the jungle 2 , and attaching themselves to the 
1 Phalangium bisigncrtum. 
2 Dr. Hookeb, in Ms Himalayan 
Journal, vol. i. p. 279, in speaking 
of the multitude of these creatures 
in the mountains of Nepal, won- 
ders what they find to feed on, as 
in these humid forests in which 
they literally swarmed, there was 
neither pathway nor animal life. 
In Ceylon they abound everywhere 
in the plains on the low brush- 
wood; and in the very driest 
seasons they are quite as numerous 
as at other times. In the mountain 
zone, which is more humid, they 
are less prevalent. Dogs are tor- 
mented by them : and they display 
something closely allied to cunning 
in always fastening on an animal 
in those parts where they cannot 
be torn off by his paws ; on his 
eye-brows, the tips of his ears, and 
the back of his neck. With a cor- 
responding instinct I have always 
observed in the gambols of the 
Pariah dogs, that they invariably 
commence their attentions by 
mutually gnawing each other's ears 
and necks, as if in pursuit of ticks 
from places from which each is un- 
able to expel them for himself. 
Horses have a similar instinct; 
and when they meet, they apply 
their teeth to the roots of the ears 
of their companions, to the neck 
and the crown of the head. The 
buffaloes and oxen are relieved of 
ticks by the crows which rest on 
their backs as they browse, and 
free them from these pests. In the 
low country the same acceptable 
office is performed by the " cattle- 
keeper heron" (Ardea bubulcus), 
which is " sure to be found in 
attendance on them while grazing ; 
and the animals seem to know their 
H H 4 
