30 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



D. — Hinder part of tarsus scutellated ; wing Alaudidse 

 in all Ceylon forms with ten primaries, (Larks) 

 the first being small. 



E. — A white ring of small close-set feathers Zosteropidds 



round the eye ; tongue sjilit into two, (White-eyes) 

 each half broken up into a bunch of 

 brush-like fibres ; size very small. 



F. — Bill with the terminal third of both 

 mandibles finely serrated ; size very 

 small. 



(1) Bill long, curved, and cylin- Nectariniida& 



drical. (Sunbirds) 



(2) Bill short and triangular . . Dics&iddd 



(Flower- 

 peckers) 



Mesomyodi. 

 Wing with ten primaries,the first beinglarge . . Pitiidse (Pittas) 



Family Corvid^. 

 Crows, &c. 



The Corvidce are the first of a group of five families found in 

 Ceylon, in which the plumage of the nestling resembles that of 

 the adult female. Structurally they differ from the Paridee — 

 Tits — ^in that the first primary is considerably over half the 

 length of the second, and, from the other three families of the 

 group, in that the nostrils are completely hidden by feathers 

 and bristles instead of being bare or only partially concealed. 

 The Corvidse are represented in Ceylon by three birds : the 

 two familiar species of crow and the beautiful Ceylon Jay, or 

 more properly Magpie, which is found only in the hills. They 

 are our largest Passerine birds. The bill is fairly powerful ; 

 the nostrils are clear of the line of the forehead and are 

 protected by horizontal bristles ; the legs and feet are stout, 

 the back of the tarsus is smooth, the front scutellated — i.e., 

 covered with shield-like plates — the hind toe is well developed, 



