Chap. XIIL] 



TICKS. 



471 



In the hills around Pusilawa, I have seen the haunts 

 of a curious species of long-legged spiders 1 ^ popularly 

 called " harvest-mem" 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 bisignatum. 



2 Dr. Hooker, in his 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 



