262 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Habits, &c.—A noisy bird, familiar to most people in Ceylon. 
Its cry of “ kuil, kuil ” is uttered most persistently during the 
breeding season ; the male has another call ‘ ho-iy-o.”” The 
birds skulk from tree to tree, and seldom remain long in the 
open. They feed on fruit for the most part. The breeding 
season is in June and July. Near the coast, where the Gray 
Crow is found, the eggs are laid in the nests of that species, 
elsewhere in the nests of the Black Crow. As many as five 
Koel’s eggs have been found in one Crow’s nest, and I have 
several clutches of four. They are noticeably smaller than 
Crow’s eggs, and, as a rule, more dumpy. The ground colour 
is a grayish- or brownish-green, blotched and spotted with 
reddish-brown. The average size of a fair Ceylon series is 
1°23 by °94. 
RHOPODYTES VIRIDIROSTRIS (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 231). 
ZANCLOSTOMUS VIRIDTROSTRIS (Legge, p. 258). 
The Small Green-billed Malkoha. 
Description—Upper parts gray with a greenish gloss, most 
noticeable on the wings and tail; tail broadly tipped with 
white ; under parts ashy ; the feathers of the throat and fore- 
neck are forked, which gives these parts a streaky appearance ; 
the breast and abdomen are more or less tinged with rufous. 
Bill pale leaf-green ; iris blood-red ; a small naked patch of 
bluish skin round the eye ; legs dusky greenish or bluish. 
Length about 15°5; wing 5:25; tail 8°5 to 9°5; tarsus 
1°35 ; bill from gape 1°35. 
Distribution.—Found all over the low-country, but most 
numerous in the drier parts of the Island. It does not appear 
to ascend the hills to any great height. It also occurs in the 
southern half of the Indian Peninsula. 
Habits, &c.—Found in thickets and thorny scrub, flitting 
through the bushes, but seldom coming out into the open. It 
feeds on both fruit and insects. The breeding season appears 
to extend throughout the year, as I have taken eggs from 
January to November. The nest is rather a flimsy structure 
of twigs placed at no great height from the ground in a thorny 
bush. It often contains a sprig of green leaves, on which two 
