AQUATIC AND AVIAN.

129

The Aquatic Mammalia—whales, dolphins, porpoises,
and dungongs—have been omitted from the foregoing list.
Whales have been occasionally stranded on the coast of
Ceylon, and a skeleton of a whalebone whale (Balwnoptera)
taken at Ambalangoda in 1894 is preserved in the Colombo
Museum. The dugong, Halicore dugong, occurs off the
north-west coast of Ceylon near Jaffna and Mannar, Kelaart
says that he saw shoals of them on the coast of Arippu during
the pearl fishery of 1835 and 1836. It is called mudu-trd or
sea pig.
The Avian Fauna of Ceylon comprises a rich assortment
of songsters, game birds, waterfowl, and birds of prey. The
chief of the feathered creation in Ceylon is the peafowl or
monard (Pave cristatus), which feeds and nests upon the
ground but roosts in the topmost branches of the forest trees.
Like the flamingo, it isa difficult bird to stalk. The fledgeling
peacock bears a singular resemblance to a partridge.
Flamingoes visit Ceylon in immense flocks during the
north-east monsoon. They frequent the salt pans or “léwaya”
in the Southern Province and in other parts of the Island, but
they have not been known to breed here. The movements
of a flock are remarkably concerted, and at the least alarm the
entire multitude will take wing with one consent, rising
like a pink cloud across the horizon.
Another bird which is more frequently heard than seen,
and more often seen than shot, is the well-known Ceylon
jungle fowl, Gallus lafayettii. The cock bird is called
“welikukula,” and the hen “ weli-kikili.”
Reptiles and Batrachia are well represented in Ceylon.
some species and even genera being peculiar to the Island.
The largest reptiles are the crocodiles, monitors, and pythons,
all of which are abundant. The batrachia do not usually
tempt sportsmen, but to the biologist Ceylon is a classical
locality for the legless scale-bearing salamander. Tchihyophis
glutinosus. )
Finally, the Freshwater Fishes of Ceylon should not be
forgotten, since they are capable of affording much pastime
to anglers and others. To one unaccustomed to such sights
a novel sensation is experienced when one comes upon a fish
(Anabas scandens) calmly walking along the side of the road,
The tank fishes of the family Ophiocephalide are equally
interesting in their way. The most important native game
fish of Ceylon is the Indian mahseer, Barbus for, one of the
family of carps inhabiting up-ecountry rivers.