PASSERINE BIRDS OF CEYLON. 189 



first half of the year. The nest is a little pear-shaped structure, 

 like that of the Purple Sunbird, but usually a trifle more 

 globular and more carefully concealed, being generaUy 

 hung from a twig at the back of a bunch of leaves instead of 

 in plain \'iew. There are two eggs. The ground colour is 

 dull greenish or greenish -white, the markings greenish or 

 olive-brown, often arranged mainly in a zone or a cap near 

 the large end. Average size '62 by •46. 



Family Dic^iDiE. 



Flower'peckers. 



Like the Sunbirds, the Flowerpeckers have the terniina 

 third of both mandibles serrated, though the serrations are 

 so fine that the aid of a lens is required to see them, except 

 in a very good light. The bill, however, is short and triangular, 

 not long and cylindrical. The rictal bristles are poorly 

 developed, but in some forms the nostrils are covered by a 

 tuft of hairs. 



The wing in certain genera has nine primaries, in others, 

 including all our Ceylon species, there are ten, the first being 

 small. The tail is always short, and the legs and feet weak. 

 Most Flowerpeckers build elaborate little hanging nests 

 resembling those of the Sunbirds. 



All the species are of extremely small size. The forms 

 found in Ceylon are rather sober hued, but many of the family 

 are brilliantly coloured. In some species the sexes are 

 dissimilar. The family is found over the Oriental region 

 and a part of Australia, None of them are migratory. Three 

 species, each belonging to a separate genus, occur in Ceylon 

 and one is not found elsewhere. 



Key to Ceylon Dica&idee. 



A. — Bill slender. 



(1) Sexes alike ; lower parts grayish. 

 Dicseum eryihrorhyiicum (Tickell's Flowerpecker). 



