BIRDS OF CEYLON WOOD 249 



is that instead of bcinf? a " noisy bird, possessing a variety of scream- 

 ing notes ", these babblers have rather a subdued series of tinkling 

 or piping calls that are rather agreeable than otherwise; a gentle, 

 reedy note, quickly repeated, one might say. The scimitar babbler 

 {PoTnatorhinus horsfieldi tiwlanw'us) is well worth a brief mention. 

 I have heard this bird in the Kandyan hills repeating (probably the 

 male) something like this in deep, distinct tones — rather low, trilling, 

 and liquid — " goo-goo-oo goo-goo-goo " about six times, much like 

 the coppersmith in rate, except that its notes can be counted, whereas 

 the coppersmith calls are too fast for numeration. Miss Kershaw 

 says that when heard in early morning the male says " what-a-good 

 boy, what-a-good-boy." The female ends her notes with " poor 

 chick," Legge says the male call is a quick " wok-wok-ek-ek-wok " ; 

 the female a shorter call. 



More beautiful than the foregoing, and peculiar to the island, is 

 the black-capped bulbul (Pyononofns melanicterus (Gmelin)), both 

 sexes with bright orange markings. This species feeds largely on 

 berries, has a length of 6.5 inches, and is everywhere seen. Another 

 bulbul, and there are several of these species suggesting but having 

 no real relation to the European nightingale, is the yellow-eared 

 bulbul {Kelaartia peniciUafa (Blyth)), a rather tame bird frequent- 

 ing inhabited areas and feeding mostly on fruits. It is slightly 

 larger than the black-capped bulbul. 



A curious representative of the drongos is the king-crow {Dicmrus 

 ooerulescens leucopygialis (Blyth)), a pugnacious, 9.5-inch species 

 which rules the roost about inhabited houses and gardens and keeps 

 the bird population, large and small, in regimented order. He hates 

 and chases owls and woodpeckers and is something of a mimic. This 

 white-vented drongo is in some districts called Kawudu-panikkiya or 

 the " crows' barber "; in others, Kaputu-bena, the " crows' nephew." 

 It is often seen chasing both gray and black crows, snatching feath- 

 ers out of their plumage, especially from the head. The natives 

 explain this vendetta by saying that in a previous birth the drongo 

 was a barber and the crow a customer who failed to pay. In this 

 incarnation he is not only being punished for his dishonesty, but the 

 drongo is permitted to dun him for the arrears. The second synonym 

 is explained by the fact that the drongo is so cunning that even his 

 crafty uncle, the crow, was cheated by him. According to the folk- 

 tale, the drongo challenged the crow to a high-flying contest, the 

 challenge being accepted on condition that each should carry a cer- 

 tain-sized bag filled with any material he chose, and that the winner 

 should, as his reward, be at liberty to knock the loser on the head. 

 The crow craftily chose cotton, the drongo, weatherwise, filled his 

 bag with salt. They had not soared far before it began to rain in 



