DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN CEYLON. 15 
the North-Central and North-Western Provinces. Its place 
throughout the rest of the Island is taken by B. erythronotus— 
the Red-backed Woodpecker—which is extremely common. 
In the North-Central Province the two species overlap and 
apparently interbreed, as intermediate forms are found. In 
addition, the specimens of B. aurantius from this district are 
generally orange-coloured on the back, while those of B. 
erythronotus are of a less pure red than birds from the Southern 
Province. 
We have an almost similar distribution in the genus 
Chrysocolaptes. 
C. stricklandi—Layard’s Woodpecker—is peculiar to 
Ceylon, and occurs in forest country all over the Island. It 
also, like B. erythronotus, has a red back. It is replaced in 
the Malabar forests by a golden-backed species, C. gutti- 
cristatus. A third species, C. festivus—the Black-backed 
Woodpecker—is rare on the Malabar coast, commoner in the 
Carnatic, and occurs locally in the northern half of the Island, 
though a few specimens, like those of Liopicus mahrattensis, 
appear to have worked round to the north of the Hambantota 
District. 
The next order, that of the Zygodactyli, which comprises 
the Barbets, is also interesting. Out of four species two 
are peculiar to Ceylon. Therciceryx zeylonicus—our Common 
Large Barbet—ranges nearly all over India, but Cyanops 
flavifrons—the Yellow-fronted Barbet—is found only in 
Ceylon, chiefly in the foothills, and belongs to a genus which 
otherwise is confined to the north of the Indo-Gangetic plain. 
Our species, therefore, is a Himalayan exile. 
The remaining two species, Xantholema hzematocephala— 
the Coppersmith—and X. rubricapilla—the Small Ceylon 
Barbet —respectively belong to the Carnatic and Malabar 
contingents. X. rubricapilla occurs in the wet zone and part 
of the northern forest tract. It is peculiar to Ceylon, but is 
closely akin to X. malabarica, which occurs only in the 
Malabar forests. 
X. hematocephala is common in the Carnatic and the dry 
districts of Ceylon, but it is rare in the Malabar tract, and not 
found in the wet zone of our Island. 

