Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 263 



Tobusta. It frequents tufts of grass and low bushes in dry 

 situations. It is rather a rare bird, and feeds on small insects 

 of aE kinds, which it seeks amid the bushes. It generally hunts 

 in small parties, and traverses the branches up and down in a 

 similar manner to O. longicauda. The iris is a light red-brown. 



73. Drymoica inornata, Sykes. 



Is common about marshes ; it builds among reeds, the tops of 

 which it draws together into a dome over the nest. The eggs, 

 generally four in number, are verditer with purplish blotches 

 and wavy lines which increase in density at the obtuse end. 



74. Prinia socialis, Sykes. 



I obtained this species at Pt. Pedro in the fine grain fields ; in 

 habits it resembles C. omalura. 



75. Acrocephalus dumetorum, Blyth. 



Mr. Blyth identifies our Ceylon bird with this species, but it 

 is a distinctly marked variety with a faint greenish shade upon 

 all its plumage. It is not uncommon, widely distributed, and to 

 the best of my knowledge, migratory. 



76. Phyllopneuste nitidus, Blyth, J. A. S. xii. 965. 



Migratory ; appearing in Colombo in October, and frequenting 

 all kinds of jungle. Its iris is dark hair-brown. 



77. Phyllopneuste montanus, Blyth. 



Mr. Blyth, in his Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal, gives the Himalayas as the habitat of 

 this species ; I procured it on the low plains of Pt. Pedro, where 

 also another Himalayan bird, Lanius erythronotus, Vigors, is 

 common. The present species is migratory, and abounds in low 

 thick bushes in company with 



78. Phyllopneuste viridanus, Blyth. 

 The irides of both are dark hair-brown. 



79. CopsYCHUs saularis, Linn. Polichia, Cing. Caravy coo- 

 roovi, Mai. ; lit. Charcoal Bird. 

 This familiar household bird is called the " Magpie Robin " by 

 Em'opeans, and the natives regard it with as much interest as we 

 do our own red-breasted favourite, of which it is the Eastern repre- 

 sentative. It is seldom seen away from habitations, about which 

 it usually builds, though the nest is often placed in a thick bush 



