PASSERINE BIRDS OF CEYLON. 141 



central tail feathers and the outer webs of the rest bluish -gray, 

 the remainder of the tail dark brown, the whole with indistinct 

 cross-rays ; axiUaries white with pale gray tips ; wing- 

 lining gray tipped with white. 



In females the chestnut parts are paler, and the gray of 

 the upper plumage is washed with olive-green ; back and 

 scapulars greenish-brown with yellowish margins. 



BUI blackish-brown, the gape and base of lower mandible 

 flesh-colour ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet fleshy-pink. 



Length 8 ' 5 ; wing 4 • 6 ; tail 3 ; tarsus 1*3; bill from gape 

 11. 



Distribution. — Breeds throughout a large part of the 

 Himalayas. In winter it occurs sparingly in the plains of 

 India proper, but is more common in Assam and Burma. In 

 Southern Burma it appears to be a partial resident. In 

 Ceylon it is one of our rarest migrants, single specimens 

 having been recorded from the Jaffna and Hambantota 

 Districts and the Eastern Province. 



Habits. — May be looked for during the north-east monsoon 

 by river banks, or the sides of paths in heavy forests. It 

 keeps mainly to the ground, turning over dead leaves in damp 

 spots in search of insects. 



Petrophila solitaria pandoo. 



The Western Blue Rock Thrush. 



Petrophila cyanus (Gates, Vol. II., p. 146); Monticola cyana ; 

 Legge, p. 460). 



Description. — Male : In winter the whole body plumage 

 is blue, the colour brightest on the eye-brow, throat, and ear 

 coverts ; most of the feathers have narrow whitish fringes 

 and dull brown sub-terminal bars ; lores and round the eye 

 blackish ; wings and taU dark brown, the quills edged with 

 blue and tipped with white. At the end of winter the feathers 

 nearly all lose their light fringes and dark bars, so that the 

 body plumage is almost uniform blue. 



Female : Upper plumage brown suffused with dull blue ; 

 lower plumage fulvous with sub-terminal black bars ; wing- 

 lining and under tail coverts barred with black. In summer 

 the fringes and bars largely disappear as in the male. 



