438 MR. E. W. H. HOLDSWORTH ON CEYLONESE BIRDS. [Mar. 5, 



the Kandy district and, according to Layard, who speaks of it as G. 

 macei, in the S. and W. provinces. 

 Ceylon, S. India. 



108. Pericrocotus flammeus, Forster. 



Widely distributed, but nowhere very common. I have not met 

 with it at Aripo, but have obtained it near Colombo ; and it is tole- 

 rably numerous in tbe cold season on the hills. I have seen it more 

 abundantly at Nuwara Eliya than elsewhere. It is generally in pairs, 

 and perches high up on the trees. 



Bill black ; i rides brown ; feet black. 



Ceylon, India, Assam. 



109. Pericrocotus peregrinus, Linn. 



Common all over the island. It is resident in the Aripo district, 

 and is found at Nuwara Eliya in the cold season. It does not fre- 

 quent trees so much as bush-jungle ; and I have never observed it 

 perching very higb, as is the marked habit of the preceding species. 



Bill black ; irides brown ; feet black. 



Ceylon, India, Andamans, Burmah. 



110. Buchanga minor, Blyth. 



This bird has been separated from the common Indian species 

 (B. macrocerca), which it resembles in colouring, but from which it 

 differs in all its dimensions. My finest specimen of B. minor is 10 '5 

 inches total length instead of 12 ; wing 5*25 instead of 5 - 75 or 6 ; 

 and other parts in proportion. The tail of the Ceylon bird is always 

 less deeply forked than in the Indian species ; and the small white 

 rictal spot is frequently absent. Whatever may be thought of the 

 value of these differences, they are constant ; and I have not heard of 

 the larger B. macrocerca of India being found in Ceylon. B. minor 

 is abundant in the north ; it is very common at Aripo, and is the only 

 species of Drongo Shrike I have seen there. It is also found about 

 Colombo, but by no means commonly within my experience. Its 

 place there and in the south is occupied by another species. None 

 of the Drongo Shrikes in Ceylon go above the lower hills, and for 

 the most part they are confined to the low country. 



Bill black ; irides red-brown ; feet black. 



Ceylon. 



111. Buchanga longicaudata, A. Hay. 



I have seen this species on the tops of the trees in forest-jungle 

 between Kandy and Trincomalie, and shot one specimen in a small 

 wood about sixteen miles from Colombo. Layard says it is common 

 in the Jaffna peninsula, and that "it frequents open lands, and 

 perches on the backs of cattle to seek for ticks, on which it feeds 

 largely." There must surely be some mistake about the species to 

 which Layard here refers. His account agrees precisely with the 

 habits of B. minor ; and Lord Walden, who first described B. longi- 

 caudata, from India, where it is well known, tells me it is strictly a 



