PASSERINE BIRDS OF CEYLON. 113 



notched, and has a percei^tible little hook at the extreme 

 point. The nostrils stand clear of the line of the forehead 

 and are covered by numerous hairs, which spring from the 

 forehead and lie over them horizontally. These hairs are a 

 most characteristic mark of the family, and are distinct from 

 the rictal bristles. The rictal bristles themselves are generally 

 strong and numerous. There are ten primaries and twelve 

 tail feathers. The wing is generally moderate in length and 

 pointed. AH species have feebly developed legs and feet, 

 they are incapable of walking, and few of them ever descend 

 to the ground. They are all insectivorous, and catch their 

 food by darting out in short flights from a perch, to which 

 they return. Many of them are migratory. There is one 

 moult a year, in the autumn, and in most species the young 

 change into the adult plumage at the end of the fu'st autumn. 

 There is one notable exception among our Ceylon species, 

 the fully mature plumage of the male, TerpsijjJione paradisi, 

 being acquired only in the fourth year. 



Ten species, belonging to eight genera, occur in Ceylon. 

 They fall into two groups. First we have seven species, 

 including four migrants, in which the tail falls short of the 

 wing in measurement. In all these seven species the bill is 

 not long, and is almost equilaterally triangular in outline ; 

 the rictal bristles are, save in CuUcicapa, only moderately 

 developed ; the wing is pointed and the tail square. The 

 differences between the genera are largely based on the type 

 of colouration, and are shown in the key which follows. 

 In the resident forms of the above group the nest is either 

 placed in a hole or ledge, or attached to the side of a rock or 

 tree trunk. We next come to three forms which are resident, 

 or, at all events, mainly so. These are distinguished by their 

 longer tails, which are never square. The bill, though pointed 

 and triangular, is generally longer than in the preceding 

 group ; the rictal bristles are long and numerous. In Terpsi- 

 phone the bill is large and SAAoUen, and the rictal bristles are 

 coarse. All three species build the most beautiful little cup- 

 shaped nests, which are placed either in a slender fork, or 

 glued on to the top of a thin branch. The young of the three 

 species are not noticeably mottled. 



15 6(17)21 



