196 TIMALIID ©. 
Bolgodole measure 241 18-0 mm. and 23°3x17-9 mm. Two 
taken for me by Mr. W. A. T. Kellow measure 24:2 x 18-1 mm. 
and 24:0x17°3 mm. They cannot be distinguished from those 
of striatus. 
Habits. The Ceylonese Babbler seems to be a bird of the forest 
and jungle rather than a frequenter of village scrub and open 
country. Mr. W. Phillips informs me thatit is not uncommon in. 
the Matagama district but that it keeps much to forest. 
Cramne| ox 
(190) Purdoides. cinereifrons. 
Tur ASHY-HEADED BABBLER. 
Garrulax cinereifrons Blyth, J. A. S. B., xx, p. 176 (1851) (Ceylon). 
Crateropus cinereifrons. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 114. 
Vernacular names. None recorded. 
Description. Forehead, crown and sides of the head cinereous, 
shading off on the nape into the bright reddish brown which is the 
colour of the whole upper plumage, tail and visible portions of the 
wings, except the outer webs of the first few primaries which are 
paler ; chin whitish ; remainder of lower plumage rufous-brown, 
darker on the flanks and under tail-coverts. 
Colours of soft parts. Iris white; eyelid plumbeous; bill black ; 
inside of mouth greenish yellow ; legs and feet plumbeous brown ; 
claws dusky-horny (Legge). 
Measurements. Length about 250 to 260 mm.; wing 121 to 
128 mm.; tail about 105 to 110 mm.; tarsus 38 mm.; culmen 
about 20 to 22 mm. 
Distribution. Ceylon only, up to about 2,500 feet. 
Nidification. Unknown. 
Habits. This bird is a typical Babbler in its noisy, gregarious 
habits, but it is contined to dense forests where it is always damp 
and gloomy. 
Genus ARGYA Lesson, 1831. 
This genus differs from Zurdoides in its longer tail and in its 
longer, more slender bill. The wing also is not so rounded, the 
third quill being longest or subequal with the fourth. The tail is 
longer and more graduated, the outermost feathers being about 
half the leneth of the central ones. Argya longirostris has a bill 
longer than the other species but is otherwise congeneric, 
Key to Species and Subspecies. 
A, Head and back distinctly streaked with’ 
blackish or very dark brown. 
a. Chin and throat rufous with dark shaft- 
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