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.
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