254 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1934 



Sinhalese gini-hora (fire-thief) and kajDU- or redi-hora, the former 

 name from the fact that in his rapid flight through the forest his 

 long, streaming tail feathers give this bird the appearance (in the 

 younger or red phase) of flying about with a firebrand; in the (male) 

 white or maturer state, he has the appearance of carrying off a bunch 

 of cotton, hence his local name of " cotton-thief." The long tail 

 feathers form a prominent character of this attractive bird. 



The fan-tailed flycatcher reminds me both in appearance and habits 

 of flight of the lovely New Zealand bird. It is a small (well-mixed) 

 black and white species that tosses and tumbles through the air in 

 pursuit of its insect prey while it repeats its song or call note, which 

 translated into English is said to be " Why don't you pick the peaches 

 quick?" — or by the more practical observer, "Whisky, gin, and 

 bitters." It is by the latter phrase that this attractive species is 

 most commonly known in Ceylon. 



A beautiful little blue and brown flycatcher, peculiar to the island, 

 was first described by the American ornithologist, Oberholser — 

 Cyornh tickelUae nesaea Oberholser. 



There are several so-called and well-known Ceylon " robins ", 

 among them the very pretty black robin and the still more attractive 

 magpie robin, just mentioned. Another rarer variety, the pretty 

 little Indian red-breasted flycatcher, goes by the vernacular title of 

 the hill robin. I need not add that none of these birds is even re- 

 motely related to either the English robin redbreast or to our own 

 American robin. 



One of the most curious of the indigenous birds of Ceylon is the 

 red-faced malkoha {Phoenicophaes pyi^rocephalus (Pennant)) that 

 may be described as a mixture of cuckoo and magpie. It is a shy 

 and rare bird (length, 18 inches; tail, 11 inches), living mostly on 

 berries and inhabiting only the highest tree tops of the deep jungle. 

 This species early attracted the attention of visitors and was described 

 by Forster in 1781. 



The Ceylon iora (peculiar to the country) is another beautiful bird, 

 like a small oriole, with its attractive black and orange markings. 

 It generally occurs in pairs, inhabiting gardens and the leafy jungle. 

 The male has a clear, sweet whistle of two notes ; the nest is an artistic 

 little cup bound to the bough or fork of a tree by cobwebs. Its sys- 

 tematic name is Aegithina ti/phia zeylonica (Gmelin), a long 

 cognomen for such a small and dainty bird. 



Ceylon possesses several woodpeckers, some of them peculiar to 

 the island. The pygmy (length 4.8 inches) is found nowhere else. 

 It is a charming, dark brown, whitish-spotted bird. There is an odd 

 Sinhalese folk-tale about the woodpecker. Once upon a time there 

 was a korowaka (rail) who sold areca nuts. One day he flew to his 



