298 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NA TUBAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X 



Mr. Edwin Watson came across one twenty years ago, as recorded by 

 Colonel Legge. 



Colouring of soft parts of my specimen (?) :— Iris, dull yellow, a 

 very narrow circle as the black pupil is very large ; bill, greenish-^ 

 brown ; lower mandible, paler ; feet, yelloio (Legge notes *' fleshy 

 grey '^ ?) : claws, dusky brown : inside of mouth, pale yellowish-green. 



Measurements : — Length, 8|^" ; wing, 4-|" ; tail (from vent), 4| 



bill to gape, 1 2V'' ^^^^ across gape, 1 J". The bird was killed on August 

 26th. The prevailing colour of this bird was a rich rufous-brown. 

 Since writing the above, I was lucky enough to obtain on October 

 14th a second specimen of this curious bird. Walking round the 

 estate after a heavy night's rain, I noticed a draggled dead frog-mouth 

 lying in a drain. It looked a hopeless rag, but fortunately it was still 

 fresh, and, after washing it bodily under water for some time and 

 then cleaning it with plaster of Paris, I was able to make a beautiful 

 specimen of it. It was in good condition, and the stomach was 

 full of remains of beetles. I fancy it had been killed by the deluge 

 of rain during the night, and I was fortunate in finding it before 

 the ants and the tropical sun had destroyed it. It was a male, a 

 larger bird than the female mentioned above, and plumaged very 

 differently, the general colouring reminding one something of that of 

 the wryneck. 



Length, 9" ; wing, 4-6" ; tail, 4-25" ; bill to gape, 1'25" ; across 

 gape, 1-3". 



Iris, straw-yellow; pupil, extremely small; bill, greenish-brown ; 

 lower mandible, paler ; legs and feet, brownish flesh-coloar. 



It is curious that in the hen-bird, shot dead in bright moonlight, the 

 pupil was greatly dilated, while in the male, picked up dead after a 

 pitch-dark night, it was narrowed to a mere dot. 



56. Caprimulgus helaarti^ Blyth, Kelaart's Nightjar.— -Common, 

 Becomes quite silent in the rains. Its note is ^' chooker ! checker ! " 

 and I once heard it calling in a jungle at 10 a.m. Never found a nest 

 here, though in Uda Passelawa I once found two pairs of eggs under 

 tea bushes within 20 yards of each other — handsome salmon-pink eggs 

 with purplish-grey marks. 



57. Caprimulgus atripenniSj Jerd., the Jungle Nightjar. — Com- 

 ipon. Breeds from May to August, laying its two eggs on the bare 



