122 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



Distribution. — In Ceylon a hill species which rarely descends 

 below 1,000 feet. Above this elevation it is resident and in 

 many localities common. It occurs over practically the 

 whole of the Indian Empire, except in the north-west, being 

 a permanent resident in the hills and a winter visitor to the 

 plains. The range e?ftends to Java and Borneo. 



Habits. — A familiar species in most of the up-country forests 

 and jungles. It frequents the lower branches of trees, 

 especially by roadsides, streams, the edges of clearings, &c. 

 It is generally found in pairs and flits about actively, hawking 

 for insects. The Avhistle is compared by Legge to the syllables 

 •' tit-titu-wheee." The breeding season is probably about 

 April and May. The nest is a little pocket of moss fixed to 

 the trunk of a tree or against a rock ; at times there is a 

 lining of fine stalks or fibres, but frequently it is unlined. In 

 India there are four eggs, but probably only three in Ce^don. 

 They are dingy yellowish-white, finely speckled with broAvn 

 and gray, chiefly in a zone towards the larger end. Average 

 size "61 by "48. 



Terpsiphone paradisi paradisi. 



The- Indian Paradise Flycatcher. 



Terpsiphone paradisi (Oates, Vol. II., p. 45 ; Legge, p. 404). 



Description. — Females and young males : Forehead, crown, 

 crest, and nape glossy blue-black ; cheeks, chin, throat, and 

 all round the neck ashy-brown ; on the fore-neck this colour 

 gradually changes through the pale ash colour of the breast 

 into white on the abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts ; 

 upper plumage from the neck downwards, including wings 

 and tail, chestnut ; the inner webs of the wing quills duller 

 brown ; the tail is about 4*5 inches long. 



The female continues in this plumage all her life, and the 

 male until the second summer. He then gradually becomes 

 blacker on the chin, throat, and hind-neck. After the second 

 annual moult, the head and neck are hooded in glossy blue- 

 black, which contrasts sharply with the ashy-gray of the 

 fore-neck ; the inner webs of the wing-quills are almost 



