96 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Distribution. — Rather locally distributed, but occurs over 

 the low-country and up to about 5,000 feet in the hills. It 

 ranges over practically the whole of the Indian Empire. 



Habits. — Generally found in low spreading trees, such as 

 kaju or suriya, round village compounds, by the roadside, on 

 the edge of the jungle, &c. It is, for instance, fairly abundant 

 in the avenues of suriya trees along the roads round Puttalam. 

 It keeps very much to the shelter of the trees, hopping about 

 among the leafy branches in search of insects. The cry is 

 rather a plaintive little "weet, weet, weet." 



The breeding season is from February to June. The nest 

 is a very shallow cup, carefully felted into a fork, or on to the 

 top of a bough, and so covered externally with lichen and cob- 

 webs as to seem a mere natural excrescence of the bark. The 

 lining is composed of soft fibres. The eggs, three in number, 

 are dumpy ovals of pale grayish or greenish-white, rather 

 thickly blotched with grayish-purple and brown. Average 

 size • 77 by • 60. 



Pericrocotus flammetjs. 

 The Orange Minivet. 



Pericrocotus flammeus (Gates, Vol. I., p. 482 ; Legge, p. 363). 



Description. — Adult male : The whole head, throat, back, 

 and scapulars glossy black ; lower parts from breast down- 

 wards, rump, and upper tail coverts brilliant orange-red ; 

 wing coverts and quills black with a broad band of the same 

 colour as the rump running across the quills from the outer 

 web of the fifth primary ; a spot of the same fiery hue on the 

 ends of the inner secondaries and of the greater coverts ; 

 central tail feathers and the bases of the others black, 

 remainder of tail fiery orange-red ; thighs dusky-black. 



Females : On the wings and tail the orange-red markings 

 of the male are replaced by bright yellow ; forehead and entire 

 under plumage also bright yellow ; rump and upper tail coverts 

 greenish-yellow ; top of head, hind-neck, back, scapulars, 

 and lesser wing coverts dark bluish-gray ; lores almost black. 



Immature males resemble females ; as they grow older 

 they gradually assume adult plumage, birds in the transition 

 state having a very patchy appearance. 



