Nests and Eggs of Ceylon Birds

Nests and Eggs of Ceylon Birds W . W . A . P h il li p s , F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. (With Seven Plates) INTRODUCTION There are already in existence several excellent works on the birds of Ceylon, in which are included a few paragraphs on the nesting habits of each species. There is, at present, however, no publication ■dealing exclusively and at length with the nests and eggs of those species that are known to breed with us. The nearest approach to such is Stuart-Baker’s monumental work on the Nidification of the Birds of the Indian Empire, a publication, running into four large volumes, that contains descriptions of the nests aod eggs of the birds of the whole of the Indian area including Ceylon. Stuart-Baker’s book records the general nesting habits of the majority of our Ceylon birds. It is, however, an expensive work and is not readily available to many of our local ornithologists. Moreover, ihe accounts given in it, of the habits of our Ceylon species are, in most cases, taken from the notes of other observers and are not derived from personal observations. Further, very few photographs of the nests and eggs of Ceylon or Indian birds have been published and few coloured plates, depicting the eggs of our birds, have yet appeared. The object of the present series of papers is, therefore, give, as fully as space and knowledge will permit, a comprehensive account of the breeding habits of all our resident species and to illustrate, with photographs, many of them with their nests or eggs. It is hoped, in addition, that several coloured plates, depicting the eggs of a number of species, will also appear, eventually. In the attainment of this object, I have received invaluable help and co-operation from Mr. E. C. Stuart-Baker, in conneclion with the 6------J. N. 76094 (7/38) . descriptions of the eggs of each species and their measurements. As- the eggs of many species are subject to wide individual variations, it is only with the aid of large series of eggs, that a proper conception of the range of variation, to which each species is liable, can be gained and a trustworthy description of them given. Mr. Stuart-Baker is the recognized authority on the eggs of birds of the Indian region and his extensive collectione, which have now been lodged in the Natural History Section of the British Museum, have placed him in an unique position in this respect. Mr. Stuart-Baker has, most kindly, under taken to add to these papers the descriptions of the eggs of each speciea and also their measurements. I have also been most fortunate in that I have received many interesting notes from Mrs. Cicely Lushington, Mr. T. E. Tunnard and Mr. C. E. Norris on the birds of the hill zone and from Mr. C. Felsinger on those of the wet and the dry zones of the lowlands. CThese notes have proved to be of great assistance in supplementing my own numerous notes and augmenting my knowledge of the nesting of certain species; I am most grateful to those who have furnished them. Owing to the fact that, in the three definite zones into which the island is divided by differences of climate, the seasons and habits of many species vary greatly, the study of the nesting seasons and habits of birds in Ceylon is of more than ordinary interest. Of those numerous species with an island-wide distribution, comparatively few breed at the same time of the year throughout all parts of the island. In the hills and the low-country wet zone, the majority of the tree- nesting species commence to lay during March and April, but in the dry zone, where climatic conditions are so different, many species breed during the rains of December or even earlier, should the north-east monsoon be a light one. On the other hand, in the dry zone, the ground-nesting birds, that- are liable to have their nests flooded out by heavy rains, do not nest until the monsoon rains are over. They wait until the end of May or early Jime before depositing their eggs and continue to breed throughout the driest period of the year, while the country is parched and the tanks are at their lowest. The same species that nest during June, July, and August, in the dry zone, however, if they nest at all dn the wet zone, lay their eggs in that area during March and April, in order to finish their breeding before the advent of the south-west monsoon rains in May and Jtine. Again, many of the Herons, Egrets, and Cormorants, will nest whenever the conditions of the water, in the tanks that they favour, are suitable to their requireinents. The same species may, therefore, be found nesting at different tants at different times of tlie year. In the liills, many of our resident speuies choose the months of March, April, and May for their chief nesting season, but, should the weather be favourable during the latter part of August, September, and October, nian.y will breed again during these months. Numeroua species in the hUls, therefore, have two distinct nesting seasons, the main season during the spring months and a supplementary one during the autumn. One or two species, however, appear to continue to neat, intermittently, throughout the greater part of the year. In this series of papers, the nesting-sea.sons in each zone are given, under each species, as far as inquiries have been able to ascertain them. But there are stiU many gaps in our knowledge of the breeding of several species in Ceylon, both as to the times of their nesting and, in a few cases, as to the entire nesting habits. We are, for example, still in complete ignorance as to the nesting of the Ashy-headed 'Babbler (Turdoiclea cinereijrons) and Legge's Flower-pecker {Acmonorhynchva vinccns), the eggs of neither of which species have yet been found. Interest in bird-photography, in Ceylon, is still confined to a few enthusiasts but it is a hobby that will become increasingly popular as time goes on. Here in Ceylon, we have a vast field for this fascinat ing persuii and now that certain areas are being reserved as Bird ■Sanctuaries, it should be more easy to indulge it with good results. The majority of the photographs that illustrate those papers were taken with a plat<t Reflex Camera, using either a 4.5 in. Yelos Anastiginatic lens or a 6.8 in. Ross Telecentrie lens. They were taken with the help of a " hide ”—^w'ell camouflaged—placed at a convenient distance from the nest or the eggs. The lot of a bird photographer, in Ceylon or any other tropical country, is not always a very easy or cool one, but the wealth of bird life that is to be found, in certain areas—^notably around dry zone, irrigation tanks and secluded beaches —makes it a particularly interesting and enthralling one. While I have been engaged upon these papers, I have taken full advantage of reference to the chief works of Ceylon Birds—viz., Legge’s Birds of Ceylon (1880); Wait’s Handbook of the Birdti of Ceylon (1931) and Stuart-Baker’s Fauna of Bntisk India; Birds (1924) and The Nidification of the Birds of the Indian Empire (1932). It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge my indebtednesi; to the authors of these works. Order PASSEEES Family Corvidae—Crows No. 1. Corvus levalllanti oulmlnatus Sykes The-Southern Black Crow CoTone macrorhyncus (Black Crow) Legge. 1800. p. 347. Corvug coTonoides culminatut (Black Oow) W ait. 1931. No. 1 p. 12. Corvus levaillanti culminatus (Southern Jnngle-Crow) 1932. Stiiart-Baker No. 6 p. 9 Vol. 1. Since 1880, when Legge published his Birds of Ceylon, the Black Crow has considerably extended its breeding range. It is now common in most parts of the Island, although there are still one or two isolated valleys, in the higher hills, in which it has not yet estab lished itself as a resident. From many parts of the sea-coast it has, oi;i the other hand, been ousted by the House-Crow {Corvus splendens protegatus), coupled possibly with the too-pressing attentions of the TCoel {Eudynamis scolopaceus scolopaceus). It is found also in South India, south of a line drawn from the Madras Presidency, say from about Masulipatam, through the Deccan, to Bombay. Legge (p. 348) states that this Crow nests principally during May, June, and July, " most nests being built during May ” , but, in my experience, serious nest-building, in a normal year, does not generally commence until towards the end of May or beginning of June. Wait has also recorded the late breeding of the species and gives (p. 12) the breeding season as from June to August. It would seem possible therefore, that this crow has, siriice Legge’s day, changed slightly the time of its nesting, in addition to extending its range. In the Kalutara district (W. P.) of the low-country wet zone, of the many nests that I have examined, the majority were built in July and August, the earliest date being July 23rd and the latest September 3rd. In the hills, I have found one or two in May and a number towards the end of Jun« but, here again, most were found during July and August. Tunnard, in his notes, gives June to August as the breeding season in the Dickoya and Pussellawa districts (C.

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