216 Mr. E» L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 



perhaps may be shot before the remainder, conscious of their 

 danger, seek safety in flight. 



Their nests are loose structures of sticks lined with hair, built 

 in cocoa-nut or other trees, and the eggs are 1 in. 7 lines long 

 by 1 in. 1 line broad. The general colour is a light bluish green, 

 mottled more sparingly than those of the carrion crow with dark 

 brown, the markings also being at the obtuse end ; but in these 

 particulars considerable variation occurs in both species, and I 

 have some eggs in which the markings are almost obsolete. 



150. Gracula religiosa, Linn. Hallaleynia, Cing. 



Common along the western coast of the island. Mr. Brodie 

 procured numerous specimens at Putlam ; it extends sparingly 

 into the Kandian provinces, where it is replaced by 



151. Gracula ptilogenys, Blyth, J. A. S. xv. 285. 



This is the ^' Hill Maina," the largest and most beautiful of 

 our species ; the yellow lappets of the ears contrasting elegantly 

 with the purple-black of the velvety feathers on the head and 

 neck. 



In habits these two species are similar, generally flying in 

 flocks varying in numbers according to the families who join 

 in them ; they perch on the topmost branches of trees, and 

 feed on fruits and berries. They also frequent pasture lands, 

 and attend the grazing cattle, on whose backs they often alight 

 in search of ticks and other insects ; they likewise scratch in 

 ordure for the coleoptera which burrow therein. They breed, 

 so the natives tell me (I have never been fortunate enough to 

 obtain their nests), in the palm-trees about villages, placing 

 their nests on the broad ends of the old fronds which lie hori- 

 zontally. The same authority informed me that the structure 

 was sticks lined with hair of cattle and the fibres of cocoa-nut, 

 and that the eggs were bluish. Both the species are highly 

 prized by the natives for the facility with which they acquire 

 the power of imitating certain sounds of the human voice. A 

 highly educated bird will often sell for 20 rupees or more ; they 

 are kept in cages made entirely of bamboo, in the manufacture 

 of which the natives are very skilful. In captivity they are 

 cheerful, active and prying, exhibiting very much the charac- 

 teristics of our English magpie, and feeding upon almost all the 

 substances, raw or cooked, eaten by their masters. Their na- > 

 tural note is a hoarse cackling or loud whistle, uttered in the ^ 

 same clamorous manner as that of our English starling. An e^^ ' 

 said to belong to this species is — axis 13 lines, diam. 10 lines; * 

 colour a beautiful darkish blue ; in shape it is much more 

 rounded than that of Acridotheres tristis. 



