eculiarities of these animals, and I saw them writing
letters on Roman tablets with their trunks, neither looking awry nor
turning aside. The hand, however, of the teacher was placed so as to be
a guide in the formation of the letters; and while it was writing the
animal kept its eye fixed down in an accomplished and scholarlike
manner."

CHAP. VIII.

BIRDS.

Of the _Birds_ of the island, upwards of three hundred and twenty
species have been indicated, for which we are indebted to the
persevering labours of Dr. Templeton, Dr. Kelaart, and Mr. Layard; but
many yet remain to be identified. In fact, to the eye of a stranger,
their prodigious numbers, and especially the myriads of waterfowl which,
notwithstanding the presence of the crocodiles, people the lakes and
marshes in the eastern provinces, form one of the marvels of Ceylon.

In the glory of their plumage, the birds of the interior are surpassed
by those of South America and Northern India; and the melody of their
song bears no comparison with that of the warblers of Europe, but the
want of brilliancy is compensated by their singular grace of form, and
the absence of prolonged and modulated harmony by the rich and melodious
tones of their clear and musical calls. In the elevations of the Kandyan
country there are a few, such as the robin of Neuera-ellia[1] and the
long-tailed thrush[2], whose song rivals that of their European
namesakes; but, far beyond the attraction of their notes, the traveller
rejoices in the flute-like voices of the Oriole, the Dayal-bird[3], and
some others equally charming; when at the first dawn of day, they wake
the forest with their clear _reveil_.

[Footnote 1: Pratincola atrata, _Kelaart_.]

[Footnote 2: Kittacincla macrura, _Gm_.]

[Footnote 3: Copsychussaularis, _Linn._. Called by the Europeans in
Ceylon the "Magpie Robin." This is not to be confounded with the other
popular favourite the "Indian Robin" (Thamnobia fulicata, _Linn._),
which is "never seen in the unfrequented jungle, but, like the coco-nut
palm, which the Singhalese assert will only flourish within the sound of
the human voice, it is always found near the habitations of men."--E.L.
LAYARD.]

It is only on emerging from the dense woods and coming into the vicinity
of the lakes and pasture of the low country, that birds become visible
in great quantities. In the close jungle one occasionally hears the call
of the copper-smith[1], or the strokes of the gre