60 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



outer webs ; lower plumage from throat to tail coverts 

 yellow, washed with olive on the breast and flanks ; wing- 

 lining and edge of wing yellow. 



Bill black ; iris red mingled with brown or deepening to 

 brown next the puj)il ; legs and feet dark lead -blue. 



Length 7*75 ; wing 3-25 ; tail 3-2 ; tarsus -78 ; bill from 

 gape • 85. Females are rather smaller. 



Distribution. — Confined to Ceylon and restricted to the hills, 

 being seldom found much below 3,500 feet. 



Habits. — Abundant in the higher ranges where it frequents 

 forests, patana, woods, and the outskirts of cultivation. 

 It keeps generally to the lower trees and undergrowth, and 

 appears to live mainly on fruit. The call is a small plaintive 

 whistle " whee, whee, whee," quickly repeated. The breeding 

 season appears to be about April. The nest is a fairly neat 

 cup of moss, grass, and fine roots and leaves. There appear 

 to be only two eggs of a pale pinkish ground colour, with rather 

 blurred blotches and streaks of pinkish-brown, I have no 

 measurements, but probably the eggs are of the same size 

 as that of the forest Bulbul. 



Family Sittid^. 

 Genus Sitta. 

 Nuthatches. 



The Nuthatches are a family of small climbing birds found 

 in temperate and warm climates all over the world, with the 

 exception of South America and Africa, south of the Sahara. 

 The foot is adapted for climbing, the hind toe and claw being 

 greatly developed and the inner front toe shortened. The 

 hind surface of the tarsus is smooth. The bill is about as 

 long as the head, straight, and wide at the base. The nostrils 

 are clear of the line of the forehead, and are overhung by hairs. 

 The rictal bristles are well developed. The wing, which has 

 ten primaries, is rather pointed ; the first primary is less than 

 half the length of the second. The tail of twelve feathers 

 is short and practically square. 



The plumage of the two sexes is generally different, and 

 there is only one moult a year. 



