128 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



In the genus Pratincola the bill is fairly wide at the base 

 and moderately curved ; the rictal bristles are well developed ; 

 the wing is moderate in length and somewhat rounded ; 

 the tail is slightly rounded and shorter than the wing ; the 

 tarsus is smooth and moderate in length. The sexes are 

 dissimilar. Only one species is found in Ceylon. The male 

 is black and white, and may be distinguished from the little 

 Black Robin by its white tail coverts. 



Pratincola cape at a atrata. 



The Southern Pied Bush Chat. 



Pratincola atrata (Gates, Vol. II., p. 60) ; Pratincola hicolor 

 (Legge, p. 430). 



Description. — Male : In the breeding season the whole 

 plumage black, except for the tips of the rump feathers, the 

 tail coverts both upper and lower, and a broad band on the 

 wing-coverts, all of which are clear white ; as the season 

 wears on the black feathers become more or less fringed with 

 rufous-brown. 



Female : The feathers of the upper plumage, including 

 the wings, dusky-brown with lighter edges, the wing coverts 

 with broader light margins ; rump and upper tail coverts pale 

 rufous ; tail almost black ; chin and throat slightly streaky 

 grayish-brown ; breast, sides, and upper abdomen dull pale 

 brown with dark streaks ; lower abdomen unstreaked ; 

 under tail coverts pale rufous. 



Young birds are fulvous brown mottled all over with 

 dusky-brown ; lower breast and abdomen pale fulvous ; in 

 males the white wing patch is assumed at a very early stage. 



Bill, legs, and feet black ; iris brown. 



Length about G ; wing 3 ; tail 2-3 ; tarsus -9 ; bill from 

 gape '75. 



Distribution. — The Pied Bush Chat is found almost through- 

 out the Indian Empire, and ranges from Persia to Java and 

 the Philippines. The present sub-species occurs in South 

 India and Ceylon, and unlike most southern forms, is distin- 

 guished by its larger size and more massive bOl. In Ceylon 



