124 Mr. E. W. H. Holdsworth on Ceylonese Birds. 



and it will be interesting to hear whether they remain at all 

 seasons where Mr. Legge met with them. The oeeurrence 

 of Cissa ornata in comparatively low country is not surprising, 

 as it only visits the upper hills during winter, and at that 

 time I expect Mr. Legge would not find it in his district. 



There is nothing which better shows how much there is to 

 reward a diligent collector in Ceylon than Mr. Legge's dis- 

 covery of Drymocataphus fuscicapiUus in some abundance 

 near Galle. Only a few localities for this bird (most of them 

 in the low country) had been previously recorded ; but the 

 expression " it appears to have escaped much observation 

 hitherto in Ceylon " is likely to mislead those who may not 

 be aware that the bird is peculiar to that island. The state- 

 ment, however, that this species ''is one of the commonest 

 and most widely distributed birds in the southern pro- 

 vince" will certainly require some qualification. Here, I 

 suspect, the question of season will have to be considered ; 

 if not, it is difficult to understand why other collectors of 

 considerable experience in looking for birds should not have 

 met with this one in the south. In 1869 I spent the 

 whole of the month of August collecting in parts of the 

 southern province ; during most of the time I was only about 

 twelve miles inland from Galle, and sometimes making ex- 

 cursions to the lower hills near the Morowa Korle. Yet I 

 never saw or heard Drymocataphus ; and I think I could 

 hardly have missed it had it been " one of the commonest 

 birds" there, as, in the following month, whilst travelling 

 across the centre of the island on my way to Trincomalie, I 

 was attracted by some notes quite new to me, and after a 

 little difficulty succeeded in shooting this very species whilst 

 it was in the act of uttering them. It is remarkable also that 

 Layard never met with this bird in the southern province, 

 although, as the discoverer of the species, having first obtained 

 it close to his house at Colombo, and afterwards in the centre 

 of the island, he would not have been likely to pass it by. 

 Two other collectors, one English and one native, have also 

 done good work in the south, but did not meet with this 

 bird. I think, then, it cannot be a constant resident there ; 



