( 33 ) 



surveys the country round and is consequently difficult to 

 approach. A male in perfect plumage is shown perched upon a 

 tree ; a dun-coloured female and a partridge-like young are placed 

 on the floor of the case. 



BIRD CASE V. 



Passing now towards the other side of the gallery the remaining 

 bird cases may be inspected, commencing with the case next to 

 the stairs facing the Sambur and Boar Group. Here are some 

 of the Passerine birds. The order Passeres comprises about one- 

 third of the entire avian fauna of Ceylon. The front half of this 

 case contains Orioles (Oriolidae), represented by the brilliant 

 yellow-bodied black-headed Oriolus melanocephalus ; Mynas and 

 Starlings (Sturnidae), of which three are peculiar, namely, the 

 Ceylon Myna, known to ornithologists as the Ceylon Grackle* 

 (Eulahes ptilogenys), the common Ceylonese Myna (Acridotheres 

 melanosterniis), which is used extensively as a cage bird by the 

 boutique-keepers and other residents, and the White-headed Myna 

 or Starling {Sturnornis senex), an inhabitant of the mountain 

 forests of Ceylon; Thrushes and Black-birds (Turdidae), of which 

 the Ceylon Black-bird (Merula kinnisi)^ a resident of the forests 

 above 2,500 feet, the Buif-breasted Ceylon Thrush {Oreocincla 

 imbricata), and the Spotted Thrush (Oreocincla spiloptera) are 

 peculiar; Flycatchers (Muscicapidae), of which the Ceylonese Blue 

 Flycatcher {Stoparola sordida) is endemic, while the Paradise 

 Flycatcher {Terpsiphone paradisi), locally known as the Ceylon 

 Bird of Paradise, is an exquisite and highly characteristic Indo- 

 Ceylonese resident. The Paradise Flycatcher is not uncommon, 

 though it is rarely seen about Colombo. The male bird undergoes 

 remarkable changes of plumage, which are illustrated by the 

 specimens exhibited. 



After the autumn moult of the second year the male has the whole head 

 and crest glossy black [throat brown, breast ashy, belly white], and the whole 

 upper plumage rich chestnut; the median tail feathers grow to a great length, 

 and are retained till May or June, when they are cast. After the autumn 

 moult of the third year the chestnut plumage is again assumed, and also the 

 long median tail feathers, but the whole lower plumage from the throat down- 

 wards is pure white, the breast being sharply demarcated from the black 

 throat. After this moult a gradual transition to the white upper plumage 

 takes place, the wings and tail being the first parts to be affected, but the 

 change to a complete white plumage is not affected till the moult of the 

 fourth autumn. After this moult the male bird is fully adult, and perma- 

 nently retains the white plumage ; the head, neck, and crest are glossy bluish 

 black ; the whole body plumage white.f 



* This species is placed by Mr. E. W. Gates (Fauna Brit. Ind,, Birds, vol. I., 

 p. 513) in a separate family, the Eulabetidae. 

 t Gates, E. W. Fauna Brit. Ind., Birds, vol. II., 1890, p. 46. 



P 10.5-04 



