e rapidly seized and firmly held, but as quickly disengaged as
the creature whirls away in its headlong career.

The insects to which it hears the nearest affinity are the
_Hippoboscidae_ or "spider flies," that infest birds and horses, but,
unlike them, it is unable to fly.

Its strangest peculiarity, and that which gave rise to the belief that
it is headless, is its faculty when at rest of throwing back its head
and pressing it close between its shoulders till the under side becomes
uppermost, not a vestige of head being discernible where we would
naturally look for it, and the whole seeming but a casual inequality on
its back.

On closer examination this apparent tubercle is found to have a leathery
attachment like a flexible neck, and by a sudden jerk the little
creature is enabled to project it forward into its normal position, when
it is discovered to be furnished with a mouth, antennae, and four eyes,
two on each side.

The organisation of such an insect is a marvellous adaptation of
physical form to special circumstances. As the nycteribia has to make
its way through fur and hairs, its feet are furnished with prehensile
hooks that almost convert them into hands; and being obliged to conform
to the sudden flights of its patron, and accommodate itself to inverted
positions, all attitudes are rendered alike to it by the arrangement of
its limbs, which enables it, after every possible gyration, to find
itself always on its feet.

CHAP. II.

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 will bear 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-el