362 Mr. S. Bligli on Baza ceyloueusis. 



I have heard nothing more of the King Eiders ; but I can 

 name no part of the "British Islands which will more amply 

 repay a careful investigation of its bird-riches than St. Kilda. 

 The place must be seen to be thoroughly appreciated ; and I 

 have little doubt that other discoveries await the ornitho- 

 logist in this lonely group of Atlantic isles. Much remains 

 to be done amongst the Fulmars; and the Shearwaters that 

 breed there are, I think, very imperfectly known. Will not 

 some member of the B. O. U. take a peep at this wonderful 

 bird-paradise and tell us more about the ornithology of this 

 remote corner of the British Islands ? believe me, he will be 

 well repaid ! 



XXXVII. — Note on Baza ceylonensis, Legrje. By Samuel 

 Bligh, Catton, Koslander, Ceylon. Communicated by 



J. H. GURNEY. 



The first specimen of Baza ceylonensis which I have had in 

 the flesh was shot by a coolie on the top of a precipice above 

 here and over 5000 feet high, on the 27th of March, 1885. 



It was a male, with the testes very large, and its stomach 

 contained the remains of a large lizard, the long tail of which 

 had been sm allowed whole. This specimen weighed just over 

 one pound ; its length was 17 inches, wing-measurement 11^, 

 spread of wings 38, tail 8j, longest crest-feather 2|, tarsus 

 1 \, naked part of tarsus in front |, from point of closed wings 

 to end of tail 2. The legs, in a fresh state, were not yellow, 

 as described by Col. Legge ('Birds of Ceylon,^ p. 94), but 

 dull dirty white, pervaded by a visible, though faint, stain of 

 plumbeous ; the cere and the base of the bill were perfectly 

 of one colour, and might be called black, though, perhaps, 

 with a tinge of brown, the base of the lower mandible and 

 the lower base of the upper being lead-coloured, as were also 

 the bare skin of the lores and that above the eyes ; the irides 

 were orange. 



I found on skinning this specimen that the eye was un- 

 usually large for the size of the bird ; not that the visible part 



