lia[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 _reveille_.

[Footnote 1: Pratincola atrata, _Kelaart_.]

[Footnote 2: Kittacincla macroura, _Gm_.]

[Footnote 3: Copsychus saularis, _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 forests, 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 great
orange-coloured woodpecker[2] as it beats the decaying trees in search
of insects, whilst clinging to the bark with its finely-pointed claws,
and leaning for support upon the short stiff feathers of its tail. And
on the lofty branches of the higher trees, the hornbill[3] (the toucan
of the East), with its enormous double casque, sits to watch the motions
of the tiny reptiles and smaller birds on which it preys, tossing them
into the air when seized, and catching them in its gigantic mandibles as
they fall.[4] The remarkable excrescence on the beak of this
extraordinary bird may serve to explain the statement of the Minorite
friar Odoric, of Portenau in Friuli, who travelled in Ceylon in the
fourteenth century, and brought suspicion on the veracity of his
narrative by asserting that he had there seen "_birds with two
heads_."[5]

[Footnote 1: The greater red-headed Barbet (Megalaima indica, _Lath_.;
M. Philippensis, _var. A. Lath_.), the incessant din of which resembles
the blows of a smith hammering a cauldron.]

[Footnote 2: Brachypternus aurantius, _Linn_.]

[Footnote 3: Buceros pica, _Scop_.; B. coronata, _Bodd_. The natives
assert that B. pica builds in holes in the trees, and that when
incubation has fairly commenced, the female takes her seat on the eggs,
and the male closes up the orifice by whic