286 Lieut. W. V. Lcgge on the Birds of the 



1(2). 2(2). 3(d). 



ill. in. in. 



Anterior toe 1 1 



Claw, straight 0-3.5 0-35 



Tail 8-4 8-35 



BiU, gape to tip, sti-aight 1*4 1*45 



Bill, height at anterior edge of nostril. \"2 1'4 



To account for the difference in size, one of my examples 

 may have been a yomig bird, although the ova appeared to 

 be equally perfect in each. Neither was in moult, as the 

 remiges were full-grown in both. In the smallest bird (which, 

 however, had the largest bill) the iris was red, with a yellow 

 outer margin and purplish inner circle; in the other very 

 little trace of the yellow circle was perceptible. The tarsi 

 and feet were plumbeous blue, and the bills dull cheny-red, 

 with yellowish tips and an angular marginal black patch at 

 the centre of the curve, continued to the gape as a fiuc line. 

 The above measurements, it will appear, exceed those of Indian 

 examples given by Jerdon, who omits to notice the strong 

 metallic green sheen of the rectrices, and likewise of the sca- 

 pulars and tertials. The stomachs of my birds were crammed 

 with grasshoppers and a species of Mantis. They appear to 

 come out in the mornings and evenings into the open, at which 

 time only I have seen them. 



44. Arachnecthra AsiATicA (Lath.). 



Abundant in the scrubs of the maritime district and low 

 jungles of the Wellaway Korle. Its congener, A. lotenia, is not 

 plentiful here, as it is in the western province and south-west- 

 ern hill-region. I find A. asiatica is always most abundant in 

 dry scrubby districts. 



45. Dendrophila frontalis (Horsf.). 



Abundant in the forest banks of the Wellaway-Korle river 

 during the south-west monsoon. This species is a straggler 

 to the western-province low country from the hills during the 

 north-east monsoon. Specimens have been procured there at 

 Net Lavinia, near Colombo. 



46. Upupa nigripennis, Gould. 



Found in the maritime districts throughout the year, but 



