Mr. Blyth on Ceylon Ornithology. 307 



that of a domestic Pigeon. The stomach contained fruits " 

 (Kelaart) . 



Macropygia macrura (Gniehn) ; PI. Enl. 329. 



Tail more than half of the entire length. Upper parts cin- 

 namon-coloured ; throat white ; breast vinaceous-red ; rest of 

 lower parts reddish-white ; tail-feathers tipped with white. This 

 little-known species is stated by Bonaparte to inhabit Ceylon, 

 and not Senegal (Consp. Av. 1857, ii. p. 57) ; it has not been 

 observed by British naturalists in the island, and its occurence 

 there is much in need of confirmation. No Macropygia is known 

 on the mainland of India, save M. tusalia in the South-eastern 

 Himalaya ; but M. rvficeps, Terani., has been received from 

 Mergui ; and M. rufipenyiis, nobis, is a fine species from the 

 Nicobar Islands (akin to M, phasianella of Australia and New 

 Guinea). The Cissa ornata of Ceylon is, however, similarly 

 isolated, having geographically no nearer representative than 

 C. venatoina of the South-eastern Himalaya and Indo-China. 



36. Gallus stanleyi, Gray; Hard wicke, 111. Ind. Zool.pl. 43, 

 fig. 2 ; G. lineatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi. pp. 221, 387; G. lafa- 

 yettii, Lesson, Tr. d'Orn. p. 491 ; 0. des Murs, Icon. Orn. pi. 18. 



The Jungle-fowl of Ceylon is more nearly akin to the widely 

 diffused G. ferrugineus than to G. sonnerati of the Indian Penin- 

 sula; but the hen resembles that of the latter, from which it is 

 conspicuously distinguished by the broad, barred markings of 

 the secondaries, which again approximate it to the hen of G. va- 

 rius of Java. The cock has a yellow comb with a red edge, 

 and the cheeks and wattles (as I remember them in the living 

 bird) are chiefly yellow; which, again, is an approximation to 

 G. varius. Legs buff- yellow. The comb is less deeply cut than 

 in the wild G. ferrugineus, its edge being less minutely cre- 

 nellated than in G. sonnerati ; whereas the comb of G. varius has 

 its margin plain or entire. The three wild species with hackled 

 nuchal plumes have the single comb and two distinct lateral 

 wattles of most domestic poultry, the E. javanicus having no 

 lateral wattles ; but the gular skin is developed as in a Guan 

 [Penelope), and as is likewise seen in one extraordinary breed of 

 domestic silky fowls in China, which, moreover, has also an 



y2 



