456 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Cat. 145 — Platyrhynchus ceylonensis, Swains., Zool. HI, N, 

 S., pi. 13 — Zird phutki, Beiig. 



The Grey-headed Flycatcher. 



Descr. — Above, the head, nape, and ear-coverts, dark ashy; back, 

 wmgs and tail, light yellow-green ; quills and tail-feathers dusky 

 internally ; rump and upper tail-coverts tinged yellow ; beneath, the 

 chin, throat, neck and breast, pale ashy ; the rest of the lower 

 plumage dingy yellow, greenish on the flanks. 



Bill blackish above, horny-reddish beneath ; feet dingy red ; 

 irides deep brown. Length 4^ to 4f inches ; wing 2f ; tail 2^ ; 

 bill at front 8 mill. ; tarsus ^ inch. 



The Grey-headed Flycatcher is dispersed throughout all India, 

 from the Himalayas to the Neilgherries, and spreads on the other side 

 of the Bay through Assam into Arakan, Burmali and Tenasserim. 

 The only locality in the South of India, where it is common, is 

 on the summit of the Neilgherries. Towards the north, however, 

 and in Central India, it is occasionally met with, and is not rare in 

 Lower Bengal. In the plains, it is mostly a cold weather visitant. 



It prefers rather dense jungle in general, or shady groves and 

 tangled thickets ; is tolerably actiye and lively, making frequent 

 sallies after small insects, and not always returning to the same 

 perch, but Hitting about a good deal, though it usually remains 

 in the same tree, or clump of trees, for some time. It is often 

 seen in small parties, occasionally singly, or in pairs, and has a 

 pleasant, but feeble, chirping song. Hutton obtained the nest at 

 Mussoorie, at about 4,500 feet high, placed against the trunk of 

 a large tree in the shape of a watch-pocket, made of moss, and 

 fixed to the moss of the tree by spider's-web, and lined with fine 

 stalks. The eggs, four in number, were dull white, with a faint 

 olive tinge, and minutely spotted with pale greenish-brown, and a 

 broad ring of the same near the larger end. 



Near this genus should perhaps come the genus Xanthopygia^ 

 Blyth, with two or three species, one from Malacca and China, X. 

 tricolor^ Hartlaub {leucophrys, Blyth), another from China and 

 Japan, X. narcissina, Temm. {chrysoplirys, Blyth), and X. mugi- 

 muld, T., also fr^m Japan. 



