Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon, ^Vt 



152. Pastor roseus, Linn. 



I found large flocks of these birds at Pt. Pedro in July, but 

 not one specimen, out of the many which fell at several discharges 

 from a large gun into the huge flocks which for several days 

 frequented one locality, proved an adult bird. They were very 

 wary, and 1 could only approach them by creeping up behind 

 hedges and then raking them as they rose with my largest gun. 

 At the end of about a week they disappeared and I saw no more 

 of them. They were entirely unknown to the natives. Mr. Brodie, 

 my esteemed friend and fellow-worker in Ceylon zoology, found 

 a few at Putlam and noticed their extreme wildness ; they perched 

 on the summit of the low bushes which dotted the open plains, 

 and he only succeeded in obtaining a single specimen, although 

 he followed them for several days. 



153. Het^rornis Pagodarum, Gmel. 



This species is not uncommon in the north of the island, but 

 I have never met with it in the south. Dr. Kelaart found it in 

 Fort Frederic, at Trincomalie. I think it breeds at Pt. Pedro, 

 as I shot several young birds in September with the cere still on 

 the base of the bill. They frequented the ploughed lands in 

 small flocks of four, five or six individuals, and fed on small in- 

 sects and grubs. Dr. Kelaart includes 



154. Het^rornis Malabarica, Gmel. 



and 



155. Het^rornis cristatella, Linn. 

 Sed non vidi. 



156. HETiERORNis ALBOFRONTATA, Layard, n. s. 



Another of the new species in Mr. Thwaites's collection, if new 

 it really is. It may be Pastor SeneXj Temm., as it agrees tolerably 

 well with the short description given in Prince Bonaparte's Consp. 

 Avium, p. 419, but that description is so concise that I cannot 

 be sure of it ; I therefore name it provisionally H. albofrontata. 



Length about 8 inches, of closed wing 4^ in., tail 3 in., bill 

 to end of gape 1^ in., tarsi 1 in. General colour of back, tail 

 and wings black, with a green gloss. Forehead albescent; 

 hinder feathers of crest brownish black, with albescent shafts. 

 General colour of breast, throat, vent and under tail-coverts 

 albescent, the shafts of the feathers on the throat shining white. 



Specimens are in the British Museum. 



