126 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Ceylon. 



123. Hemipus picatus, Sykes. 



Rare, though widely distributed. I procured a specimen or 

 two in Colombo near Jaffna ; it frequents trees, and when seen 

 is generally in small parties of four or five. The stomachs of 

 those dissected proved full of small flies. 



123. OCHROMELA NIGRORUFA, JcrdoU ? 



Among the drawings made by E. L. Mitford, Esq., of the 

 birds which fell under his notice at Ratnapoora, was one which cer- 

 tainly represented this bird. He described it to me as migratory, 

 appearing in June, and added that they fed much on spiders. 



124. Myiagra c^rulea, Vieill. 



This lovely little azure flycatcher is widely distributed, though 

 Dr. Kelaart has not noticed it at Nuwera Elia. It generally 

 hunts in small flocks, and at times I have heard it utter a short 

 but pleasing song. I think it is migratory. 



125. Tchitrea Paradtsi, Linn. Vdl cooroovi, Mai. ; lit. Tail 

 Bird. Ginihora, Cing. (the Red Bird) ; lit. Fire Thief. 

 Raddehora, Cing. (the White Bird) ; lit. Cotton Thief. 



This " Bird of Paradise " of the Europeans is common in Cey- 

 lon. Nothing can exceed the gracefulness of the adult cock 

 birds, when in full plumage they fly from tree to tree, their 

 long tails fluttering in elegant undulations. I have often watched 

 them, when seeking their insect prey, suddenly turn on their 

 perch, and whisk their long tails with a jerk over the bough 

 as if to protect them from injury. The white plumage is only 

 assumed in the second year ; the red tint apparently fades, leaving 

 the feathers white, though the shaft turns black. I have a 

 specimen shot in February in which this change is going on ; 

 most of the feathers have altered their hue, some moi'e or less, 

 others not at all. Certainly they migrate, but breed with us ; 

 the nest is a neat, well-built, cup-shaped structure, composed of 

 mosses and lichens outwardly, and lined with hair and wool. I 

 found one nearly completed in the fork of a satin-wood tree at 

 Tangalle ; the eggs I could never procure. 



126. Leucocerca compressirostris, Blyth. 



Of this bird Mr. Blyth thus writes : " Like L. albofrontata, 

 but with the bill much more compressed ; perhaps a variety only." 



I procured two at Tangalle, and a third in a little native vil- 

 lage near Anarajahpoora. I shot them in tamarind trees. They 

 secured their prey in the usual manner of flycatchers, and were 



