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



U. epops ; but iu this specimen there is no white spot on the first 

 primary. This bird was killed in December. In a second specimen, 

 shot in February, the bill is 2*25 inches, closed wing 5*1, the 

 general colour of the bird very rufous, and a white spot on the left 

 first primary, but only a very minute speck on the right. A third, 

 a male killed in December, agrees generally with the Indian form, has 

 no spot on the first primary, but has the bill at front 2' 15 inches, and 

 the closed wing 5*25. The last and largest of these specimens did 

 net exceed 10'8 inches in length ; and they may all doubtless be re- 

 ferred to U. nigripennis, if that form be really distinct from U. epops. 



Bill black, base flesh-colour ; irides brown ; feet dark leaden. 



Ceylon, India, Burmah ? 



102. Lanius erythronottjs, Vigors. 



Very common in the Aripo district and in other parts of Northern 

 Ceylon. I have also seen it occasionally in the Cinnamon Gardens 

 at Colombo ; hut it does not appear to visit the hills. A cup-shaped 

 nest of this species was built in a thorn-bush close to my house at 

 Aripo ; but the young birds had left it before my arrival there in the 

 beginning of April. In a subsequent year I obtained young birds 

 able to fly as early as the middle of February, and older ones nearly 

 full-grown in March. These young birds were all very rufous, with 

 the head, upper back, and flanks closely barred, the lower part of the 

 back more broadly marked, and the secondaries rufous with their 

 centres dusky. Layard says " the young are fledged in June ;" but 

 they are out some months earlier than that in the Aripo district. 

 These birds feed very much on dragonflies and grasshoppers. 



Bill black ; irides dark brown ; feet black. 



Ceylon, India, Central Asia. 



103. Lanius cristatus, Linn. 



Referred to by Layard as L. superciliosus, Linn. This bird I 

 have found common in the north, west, and central parts of Ceylon 

 during the winter months. It remains about Aripo from October to 

 April, and is tolerably common at Nuwara Eliya during the same 

 period. Layard mentions their being particularly numerous at 

 Hambantotte, on the south-east coast, but does not say at what 

 time of the year. There is probably a migration of this species 

 from the east to the west side of the island at the beginning of the 

 N.E. monsoon, at which time no doubt many of these birds also 

 come from India. A specimen obtained at Aripo in October is of 

 a much richer brown than others I shot at Nuwara Eliya in February. 

 These birds are fond of perching on the extreme top of a bush. 



Blyth (Ibis, 1867, p. 304) refers the birds described by Layard 

 to " L. lucionensis, Scopoli (?)," a race of L. cristatus, " distinguished 

 by its prevalent ashy-brown hue." This character is not uncommon 

 in Ceylon specimens which have old, worn plumage ; but I have not 

 seen it in newly moulted birds. 



Bill dusky ; irides dark brown ; feet dark leaden. 



Ceylon, India, Andamans, Malacca. 



