48 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Habits. — A shy skulking bird, keeping almost entirely 

 to thick scrub, low jungle, or the undergrowth in forests. 

 It is more often heard than seen. The note is a whistle, 

 which may be described by the words " to meet you." It 

 may frequently be heard, in the jungle, as also may the breed- 

 ing song of the cock, which reminds one of a small boy whist- 

 ling up and down the scale. The birds generally go about 

 in pairs, or small family groups, picldng up beetles, &c., from 

 the ground. 



The breeding season appears to be from November to 

 March and again about September. The description of the 

 nest given by Legge, as a cup-shaped structure placed in a 

 bush, is probably due to an error. Authentic nests have 

 recently been found by myself and Mr. Tunnard of Rothschild, 

 Pussellawa. My nest, from the North-Central Province, was 

 domed, and very cleverly camouflaged in a litter of dry leaves 

 on the ground in the forest. The opening was at one side, 

 and the materials were very roughly put together. The 

 lining consisted of a few broken up dead leaves, and the roof 

 of a few more broad dry leaves. Mr. Tunnard's nest was 

 equally cleverly hidden, but more carefully lined with weed 

 stalks and the stems of maiden-hair fern. The two or three 

 eggs are broad ovals with rather a blunt narrow end. The 

 ground colour is china white, thickly covered with grayish- 

 purple and reddish-brown markings. Average size • 85 by •64. 



Rhopocichla atriceps nigriprons. 

 The Black-fronted Babbler. 



Rhopocichla nigri fro US (Oates, Vol. I., p. 160); Alcippe nigri- 

 frons (Legge, p. 507). 



Description. — Forehead, round the eye, and ear coverts 

 dull black, the forehead feathers with glistening shafts ; 

 sides of neck, upper plumage, wings, and tail rufous-brown, 

 darkening on the crown into the black of the forehead ; outer 

 wing quills with paler edges ; tail darker at the tip, and in 

 some specimens faintly cross-rayed ; throat, neck, breast, 

 and abdomen white, the feathers, except on the chin, throat, 



