102 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Length 7 • 3 ; wiiig 5*2; tail 2 • 25 ; tarsus • 65 ; bill from 

 gape '95. 



Distribution. — Widely distributed over the low-country. 

 It is fairly common in Uva, but rarer in the Central ranges. 

 In some districts it appears to be a partial migrant. It occurs 

 throughout the greater part of the Indian Empire, and extends 

 into Siam and China. 



Habits. — May be found in small flocks round paddy fields, 

 on open hillsides, tree-studded patanas, or clearings in the 

 jungle. The birds perch in rows on tall branches, sallying out 

 in twos or threes after insects, which are captured on the wing, 

 or soaring for some time in the air and then returning to their 

 perch. The breeding season is from February till about April. 

 The nest is a shallow saucer of grass and roots loosely put 

 together and placed generally at the junction of a palm frond 

 with the stem, but at times in hollow trees, or on the surface 

 of a large horizontal branch. There are usually three eggs, 

 rather narrow ovals, slightly pointed at one end. The ground 

 colour is creamy-white, marked with rusty-brown. Avera.ge 

 size '94 by '68. 



Family Oriolid.^s. 



Genus OriOlUS. 



Orioles. 



With the Orioles we come to a group of families in ^vhich 

 the young are streaked. Only one genus is found in India, 

 and only one species is at all common in Ceylon, a second 

 having occurred only as a rare straggler. In our Ceylon forms 

 the adults are easily recognized by their rich yellow and black 

 plumage. The young pass through several stages from the 

 nestling phas3, in which the upper feathers are greenish, tipped 

 with yellow, and the lower parts white, streaked with brown, 

 to the full adult dress. 



The bill is about the same length as the head, the upper 

 mandible is slightly curved, with the tip notched and hooked, 

 the nostrils are horizontal slits, which stand clear of the 

 feathers at the base of the bill, the rictal bristles are well 

 pronounced. The wings are rather long and pointed, the first 



