298 Mr. Blyth on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 



I wrote to Mr. Layard (as he quotes), "Your Woodpecker 

 might make a fourth race of Micropternus, on the principle 

 that M. gularis is separable from M. phaioceps." The dif- 

 ference from the South Indian M. gularis, however, is very 

 slight ; and this is a Woodpecker that falls elsewhere into 

 several local races, M. hadiosus (Temm.) of Borneo, being some- 

 what better distinguished than the rest. " Decidedly a rare 

 species in the island, and almost confined to the south" (Layard, 

 Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1854, xiii. p. 450). 



10. Phcenicoph^us pyrrhocephalus (Gmeh); Cuculus pyr- 

 rhocephalus, Penn., Ind, Zool. pi. 5 ; Levaill., Ois. d'Afr. pi. 224; 

 P. leucogaster, Dumeril. 



"Inhabits the densest jungles, never descending to the 

 ground, but living amid the highest branches. It is unknown 

 in the northern districts ; in fact, its range seems limited to the 

 mountain zone ; and even there it is very local. "^ * * In life 

 the feathers round the eye resemble the finest crimson velvet " 

 (Layard, torn, cit. p. 453). 



11. Centropus chlororhynchus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xviii. 

 p. 805. 



Distinguished from C. rufipennis by its much larger bill of 

 a uniform greenish-yellow colour, by the darker shade, border- 

 ing on maroon, of its back and wings, and by the peculiar hue 

 of the dark head, neck, and \inder parts, which have a some- 

 what ruddy tinge, and are glossed with amethystine-purple, a 

 redder shine of which is seen likewise to gloss the upper parts ; 

 tail purple-black. Length about 18 in., of which the tail mea- 

 sures half, its outermost feathers 9'5 in. less ; wing 6'5 in. ; 

 bill to gape 1*75 in., and its vertical depth fully '5 in.; tarsi 

 2 in., and long hind claw about 1 inch. Irides red. A rather 

 local species in the upland territory. 



CoRVUS SPLENDENS, var. 



This Crow is melanoid in Ceylon, but not quite so melanous 

 as the Indo-Chinese race (in Pegu, Tenasserim provinces, and 

 Siara). {Cf. Layard, Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1854, xiii. p. 214.) 



12. CissA ORNATA (Waglcr) ; " C. pyrrhocyanea, Licht.," 



