PICARIAN BIRDS AND PARROTS OF CEYLON 265 
Albino specimens sometimes occur. Legge notices one in 
which the body was white and the wings light brown, and there 
is a pure white chick in the Colombo Museum collection. 
Bill black ; iris crimson ; legs black. 
Length 18; wing about 7°7; tail 9°75; tarsus 1-9; bill 
from gape 1°75. 
Distribution Found all over the Island, Blanford unites 
in one species three fairly well-marked races which occur 
respectively in Peninsular India, Northern India, and the 
country from Assam to Burma ; the last race is identical with 
typical Centropus sinensis from China. 
Habits, &c.—Found everywhere, except in the heart of 
heavy forests. It feeds on the ground on insects, small 
reptiles, &c., and is not averse to the eggs and young of 
smaller birds. It can run with considerable speed. The 
flight is slowand heavy. The cry isa resounding ‘‘ kook-kook- 
kook.’ The breeding season continues from March till about 
September. The nest is a large globular affair of sticks, dry 
leaves, and grass, placed in a thick bush or thorny tree. The 
three chalky-white eggs are broad, oval in shape, and measure 
about 1°34 by 1°14. : 
CENTROPUS CHLORORHYNCUS (Blanford, Vol. IIL, p. 242 ; 
Legge, p. 263). 
The Ceylonese Coucal. 
Description.—Similar to the last species, only rather smaller 
and slighter ; the gloss on the breast, hind-neck, and upper 
back is purple and bronze ; the wing coverts and wings are 
darker chestnut, and the quill tips more dusky ; the feathers 
of the crown and nape are longer and looser, and the bill pale 
instead of black. The young have no distinct plumage. 
Bill pale apple-green ; iris deep red or dull crimson ; legs 
and feet black. 
Length about 17; wing 6°4; tail9°25; tarsus 1°75; bill1°7. 
Distribution.—Peculiar to Ceylon, and practically confined 
to the tract between the Deduru-oya and the Nilveli-ganga. 
It ascends the western slopes of the hills to about 2,500 feet. 
It is commonest in the dense forests of the Western Province 
and Ratnapura District, where the rainfall is heavy. 
