PASSERINE BIRDS OF CEYLON. 53 



Length 7-4; \ving 3-4; tail 2*8; tarsus -75; bill from 

 gape -95. 



Distribution. — Found all over the low-country in well- 

 wooded parts. It ascends the hills to 3,500 feet or occasionally 

 higher. It occurs over the greater portion of the peninsula 

 of India. 



Habits. — A conimon bird, which often escapes notice as 

 the plumage so closely resembles the green of the foliage. 

 It frequents trees in compounds and gardens, by the roadside 

 and river banks, or round tanks and paddy fields. It is 

 generally found singly or in pairs, but when not breeding, 

 the females collect in little troops. It is an active little bird, 

 assiduously hunting among the leaves of trees or fronds of 

 palms for the insects on which it feeds. The male has a clear 

 pleasant whistle, and mimics the calls of other birds with 

 astonishing accuracy. 



It appears to have several broods, beginning in November 

 or December, as soon as the rains have set in, while I have 

 found the eggs as late as May. The nest is hard to find. 

 It is a soft neatly woven cup, composed of fine strips of grass 

 or tow-like fibre, suspended by the rim to the fork of a slender 

 twig, and always well concealed by overhanging leaves. 

 It is generally 6 to 10 feet from the ground, but occasionally 

 much higher. The two eggs are slightly pointed, glossless 

 cream-coloured ovals, sparingly marked with short fine 

 streaks or spots of dark brown, at times almost black. Average 

 size • 82 by • 59. 



Sub-family Brachypodinse. 



Bulbuls. 



The Bulbuls are a familiar group of small birds, with fairly 

 well-defined characteristics. They are mainly arboreal in their 

 habits. The sexes are alike, the young closely resemble the 

 adults, and all species lay eggs, which are marked with 

 various shades of red and purple. The most characteristic 

 feature of this sub-family is the extreme shortness of the 

 tarsus, but they are further distinguished by the presence of 

 hairs among the feathers of the nape. 



