PASSERINE BIRDS OF CEYLON. 99 



innermost quills ; the central pair of tail feathers gvi\.y, the 

 rest black, tipped with white ; chest and flanks pale gray ; 

 abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts white. 



Female : The upper plumage, including the lesser wing 

 coverts, brownish -gray ; the rump and upper tail coverts 

 rather lighter and with narrow dusky bars ; the rest of the 

 wing coverts and wing quills dusky-brown with fulvous 

 white edges, the primaries with a large basal patch of the 

 same colour on the inner webs ; central tail feathers brownish- 

 gray, darkening to brown at the tips, and with faint pale 

 margins, the remainder blackish-brown with white tips ; 

 ear coverts streaked with white ; cheeks, sides of neck, and 

 lower plumage fulvous white, with numerous narrow dusky- 

 brown bars, which disappear on the abdomen ; vent and 

 under tail coverts white. 



In nestlings the lower surface is more closely barred than in 

 the female ; the upper plumage is slaty-brown, each feather 

 with a white tip and a dusky sub-terminal bar. 



Bill black ; iris brownish-red in males, brown in females ; 

 legs and feet black in males, brownish -slate in females. 



Length 7 • 5 ; wing 3*9; tail 3 ; tarsus • 8 ; bill from 

 gape "85. 



Distribution. — Found over the greater part of the low- 

 country, but most common in the maritime districts of the 

 south-east and north. It ascends the hills to about 4,000 feet, 

 and occasionally wanders to higher elevations. It occurs over 

 the greater part of India proper. 



Habits. — May be met with in a variety of situations, either 

 in forest, low scrub jungle, hedgerows, or compounds. It is 

 occasionally seen in Colombo. Out of the breeding season the 

 males are solitary, the females and 3'oung associate in small 

 troops. The birds hunt diligently among the foliage for 

 larvae and soft insects. Males have a clear whistle, females 

 a chirping note. The breeding season appears to be about 

 April. The nest is a small shallow cup made of fine twigs 

 bound together with cobwebs and placed in the fork of a tree, 

 often at the end of a horizontal branch. The two eggs are 

 greenish -white, rather streakily marked with pale brown, and 

 measure about • 86 by * 62. 



