The presence of sparrows in a house indicates that a male child will be born and when they play in the sand that there will be rain. Once upon a time a house, where a pair of sparrows had built their nest caught fire; the hen sparrow flew away but the male bird tried to save their young and scorched his throat; this scar can still be seen on the cock sparrow.
A house will be temporarily abandoned if a spotted dove (aḷukobeyiyâ) flies through it; this bird was once a woman who put out to dry some mî flowers (bassia longifolia) and asked her little son to watch them; when they were parched they got stuck to the ground and could not be seen; the mother thought the child had been negligent and killed him in anger; a shower of rain which fell just then showed to her the lost herbs and in remorse she killed herself and was born the spotted dove, who still laments. “I got back my mî flowers but not my son, Oh my child, my child” (mimal latin daru no latin pubbaru putê pû pû).
Parrots are proverbially ungrateful; sunbirds boast after a copious draught of toddy that they can overthrow Maha Meru with their tiny beaks.
The great difficulty of the horn-bill (kendetta) to drink water is due to its refusal to give water to a thirsty person in a previous existence. The common babbler hops as he was once a fettered prisoner. The red tailed fly catcher was a fire thief, and the white tailed one a cloth thief.
A white cock brings luck and prevents a garden from being destroyed by black beetles. When a hen has hatched the shells are not thrown away but threaded together and kept in a loft over the fireplace till the chickens can look after of themselves. Ceylon jungle fowls become blind by eating strobilanthes seed when they may be knocked down with a stick.
The cuckoo searches for its young, ejected from the crow’s nest, crying koho (where) and its cry at night portends dry weather.
The plover (kiralâ) sleeps with her legs in the air to prevent the sky falling down and crushing her young; her eggs, when eaten, induce watchfulness.
Peacocks dance in the morning to pay obeisance to the Sun God, and they are not kept as pets in houses as the girls will not find suitors. Peahens conceive at the noise of thunder and hence their love for rain. Some say that the peacock once fell in love with the swan king’s daughter and when going to solicit her hand borrowed the pitta’s beautiful tail which he refused to return after winning his bride; the peahen pecks at the male bird’s train during the mating season, angry at the deception practised on her while the pittâ goes about crying “avichchi” (I shall complain when the Maitri Buddun comes.) Others say that the peacock stole the garments while pittâ was bathing.
The cry of the pittâ (avichchya) presages rain; and it is thought to be a sorrow stricken prince mourning for his beautiful bride Ayittâ and hence his cry.
Leeches are engaged in measuring the ground. Snails were persons who in a previous birth used to spit at others; their slime when rubbed on one’s body makes one strong. Worms attack flowers in November and are influenced by charms.