AcMUhns to the Arlfanna of Ceylon. 489 



fittraetecl by tlieharsli notes of this bird, and immediately saw that 

 another addition to our list was about to make its way into my 

 cabinet. There were a pair of them, but I was only able to secure 

 one, as they kept to the thick reed beds and baffled my murderous 

 intentions. 



Leng-th,_7-8 ; tail, 3-3; wing-^ 3-4; tarsi, 1-2 ; bill, at front, G"? j 

 iris, brownish yellow ■; bill, upper mandible, dark horny ; under 

 mandible fleshy, with a dusky tip ; legs and feet, greenish 

 plumbeous. 



The several organs were very much developed, leading to 

 ■the belief that the bird was breeding, l^he occurrence of the 

 species in the north of Ceylon accords with its migratory 

 habits as regards India in the cold season, but I was much sur- 

 prised, when at Hawbautota on the S. E. Coast in July last, to 

 recognize precisely the same note, proceeding from a bed of reeds 

 on a small tank there, and after -a. little searching, I shot another 

 male. The circumstance is puzzling, as no species of Acroce- 

 pJiahis has been even noticed in Ceylon at that season, and I 

 doubt if in India either. My Hawbautota specimen is smaller 

 than the Jaffna bird, and less olivaceous above ; the bill is stouter, 

 somewhat, and certainly broader at the base as well as 0'08 

 longer. Total length, 7*65 ; wing, 3"35 : tail, 3 ; bill, at front, 

 straight, 0'78. Iris, brownish 3 ellow ; bill with the under man- 

 dible reddish fleshy at the base, and the inside of the mouth 

 fleshy red. The rectal vibrissse a,re larger than in the Jaffna bird. 

 Notwithstanding the presence of the red about the mouth and 

 other slight differences above noticed, I doubt not but that both 

 specimens are referable to the same species The several organs 

 were much enlarged, indicating the possibility of the bird being 

 breeding, but I failed to discover the whereabouts of its mate, 

 though I took considerable pains to And her. 



The question has now to be answered : What was this warbler 

 doing in Ceylon at this particular time, and it would be interest- 

 ing to know whether such an instance has even occurred in 

 India as an Acrocep/ialm heing found there out of the cold season. 



22b bis.— Mgielitis Geoffroyi, Wagler, 



This sand-plover was originally included by Layard in his 

 Catalogue of Ceylon Birds (Ann. Nat. Hist. 1854,) whether 

 rightly or wrongly identified, I cannot say, but Mr. Holdsworth 

 in his late paper excludes it, saying, p. 471, Proc. Z. S., 1873. 

 " I had no reason to think the much larger y%. Geoffroyi, 

 Wagler, is found in Ceylon. 



During the course of a tour up the N. E. Coast from Trin- 



