4. ELAPHRORNIS. 517 



4. ELAPHRORNIS. 



ie,B. 

 Range. Ceylon. 



Type. 

 Elaphrornis, Legge, B. Ceylon, p. 514 (1879) E. palliseri 



1. Elaphromis palliseri. 



Brach}'pteryx palliseri, Bhjth, J. A. S. Beng. xx. p. 178 (1851) ; 



Kelaart, Prodr. Cat. p. 10:^ (1852); Layard, Ann. ^- Mag. Nat. Hist. 



xii. p. -im (1853) ; Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 312, no. 46G8 (1869) ; 



Hold&xo. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 443, pi. xviii. 

 Eliiphrornis palliseri, Legge, B. Ceylon, p. 514, pi. xxiv. fig. 2 (1879). 



Adult. General colour above dark brown, rather more olive on 

 the head and neck ; wiug-coverts brown, externally washed with 

 the same colour as the back ; qnills dark sepia-brown, externally 

 like the lower back, rather less olive than the wing- coverts ; upper 

 tail-coverts ruddy brown ; tail-feathers brown, with obsolete dusky 

 cross lines under certain lights : lores whitish ashy ; over the 

 eye a faintly indicated ashy eyebrow ; sides of face and ear- 

 coverts ash}' brown, streaked with whitish shatVlines ; cheeks and 

 throat pale fawn-colour ; remainder of under surface from the throat 

 downwards ashy olive with a tinge of green ; centre of abdomen 

 pale yello-nnsh ; under wing-coverts and axillaries dull olive-brown; 

 quills light brown below, ashy along the edge of the inner web ; " bill 

 black, slate at the base beneath ; legs and feet deep neutral brown 

 or purplish brown : claws pale brownish horn ; iris clear red "' ( W. 

 V. Lrrjtje). Total length Q"2 inches, culmen 0-65, wing 2-45, tail 

 2*7, tarsus 1'05. 



Captain Legge says that the female is smaller than the male, and 

 has the iris buff. The measurements of the species are given by 

 him as follows: — Length 6'4-6-75 inches, wing 2-35-2-6.5, tail 2-5- 

 2-7, tarsus l-l-l, middle toe and claw 0-8-0-85, biU to gape 0-73- 

 0-87. 



Young. Very similar to the adults on the upper surface, but dif- 

 fering in its olive-green colour underneath, the throat being rather 

 more yellowish, but without any of the fawn-coloured shade of the 

 adults. In the young male, according to Captain Legge, the iris is 

 pale reddish buff, and in the young female it is white. He does 

 not know whether the female bird at any age has a red eye like the 

 male, though he procured one specimen of a female which had a 

 faint reddish inner circle to the iris. 



Hah. Confined to the higher mountain-ranges of the island of 

 Ceylon, above 5000 feet. 



a. Ad. sk. Ceylon. Dr. Kelaart [C.]. 



b. Ad. sk. Ceylon. Hugh Cuming, E3q. 



