BHOPODYTBS. 231 



This genus ranges almost throughout the Oriental region, and 

 four species occur within our area. 



Ketj to the Species. 



a. Abdomen grey or blackish. 



a'. Orbital skin blue : length about lo'5 . . R. viridirostris, p. 231. 

 b'. Orbital skin red. 



a". Length about 23 R. tristis, p. 232. 



b". Length about 15 to 16 R. diardi, p. 233. 



b. Abdomen ferruginous red R. sumatranus, p. 233. 



1122. Rhopodytes viridirostris. The Small Green-billed Malkoha. 



Zanclostomus viridirostris, Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. xi, p. 223 



(1840) ; id. III. Ind. Orn. pi. 3; id. B. I. i, p. 34(3; Bhjth, Cat. 



p. 70; Horsf. S( M. Cat. ii, p. 690: Layard, A. M. N. H. (2) 



xiii, p. 453 ; Holdsiuorth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 432 ; Lec/ye, Birds 



Ceyl. p. 258. 

 Phoenicophfeus jerdoni, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 1095 (1842). 

 Rhopodytes viridirostris, Cab. <^- Heine, Mus. Hein. iv, p. 63 ; Dav. 



Sf Wend. S. F. vii, p. 79 ; Ball, ibid. p. 207 ; Hume, Cat. no. 216 ; 



Vidal, S. F. ix, p. 55 ; Butler, ibid. p. 389 ; Davison, S. F. x, p. 360 ; 



Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 131 ; Gates in Hume's N. ^ E. 2nd ed. ii, 



p. 399 ; Shelley, Cat. B. M. xix, p. 385. 



Kappra Popya, H. ; Wamana Kaki^ Tel. ; Kusil, Tarn. (Ceylon) ; 

 Mal-kcendetta, Cing. 



Feathers of throat and fore-neck bifurcate, tliere being no web 

 to the terminal portion of the shaft, and the plumage of those parts 

 looking as if wet or partially stuck together. 



Coloration. Upper parts dark ashy with a green gloss, which 

 becomes much stronger and metallic on the wings and tail ; the 

 remiges and rectrices glossy above and below, and the latter 

 broadly tipped with white ; underparts pale ashy, throat and 

 fore-neck streaked, owing to the structure of the feathers ; breast 

 whitish, more or less tinged with rufous. 



Bill bright apple-green ; naked skin around eyes cobalt-blue ; 

 irides blood-red ; legs blackish green (Jerdon). 

 ■ Length about 15*5 ; tail 8-75 to 10 ; wing 5*1 to 5*4 ; tarsus l"3o ; 

 bill from gape 1*4. 



Distribution. The Peninsula of India as far north as Eatnagiri 

 and Belgaum to the westward, Siroucha on the (jrodavari, Cuttack, 

 and, according to Ball, Midnapore to the eastward; also Ceylon 

 in the low country. This Cuckoo does not ascend the hills. 



Habits., 6fc. A haunter of bamboo- and bush-jungle, often found 

 in hedges and other thickets about cultivation. This bird lives, 

 according to Jerdon, on various large insects — grasshoppers, man- 

 tides, caterpillars, &c. In Ceylon, according to more than one 

 observer, it feeds chiefly on fruit. Like its allies, it has a very 

 weak flight. The nest has been taken on the 10th March by 

 Mr. Cardew in North Arcot, and by Mr. H. Wenden in July at 



