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materials, and lays usually two eggs of a pale greenish tinge with small dusky spots. It has a 

 feeble chirp like that of Certhia familiaris ; and it has also a weak, shrill sort of song. This bird 

 feeds on the honey of .flowers and small insects which infest flowers, buds, &c. Layard states 

 that it is very pugnacious, — abundant in the southern part of Ceylon." In the latter country, 

 according to Mr. Holdsworth, it is common in the low country, and frequently seen in the gardens 

 of Colombo, but was not met with by him at Aripo. Lord Walden also mentions it as common 

 in the south-western subdivision of that island ; and in his well-known article " On the Sun-birds 

 of the Indian and Australian Regions" (Ibis, 1870, p. 38) indorses the range assigned to this 

 species by Dr. Jerdon. I may here remark that I have never seen specimens from beyond these 

 limits ; and it does not occur in Mr. Hodgson's Nepaul collections. 



Mr. Layard further gives us the following very interesting account of its habits (Ann. Nat. 

 Hist. 1853, 2nd ser. xii. p. 174) : — " My house in Colombo was, as is usual in the east, surrounded 

 by a verandah, up which crept, in tropical profusion, several species of Passiflora ; to the flowers 

 of these came the various Nectarinice for their morning and evening meals, rarely appearing in 

 the heat of the day; they hovered about the starry flowers, thrusting in their curved bills in 

 search of the minute insects on which they feed ; occasionally they would fly into the verandah 

 and seize a small spider from its web, or from the crevices of the walls. Then they would betake 

 themselves to the trellis supporting the passion-flowers, or to the branches of a pomegranate close 

 by, where they preened themselves and uttered a pleasing song. If two happened to come to the 

 same flower (and, from their numbers, this often occurred), a battle always ensued, which ended in 

 the vanquished bird retreating from the spot with shrill piping cries, while the conquerer would 

 take up his position upon the flower or stem, and, swinging his little body to and fro till his coat 

 of burnished steel gleamed and glittered in the sun, pour out his notes of triumph. All this time 

 the wings were expanded and closed alternately." 



According to Dr. Leith Adams (P. Z. S. 1858, p. 497) it was "not seen in Scinde, and was 

 not common in the Western Himalayas." Some mistake as to the species must have occurred 

 here, as the species is not found in the localities mentioned. He writes further, " It is frequently 

 seen sucking the nectar from the flowers of the cactus. The species is common in the gardens of 

 Poonab, in the Deccan." At Bombay Mr. Swinhoe met with it. It was, he says, " usually in 

 pairs, very busy about flowering bushes. They seem to prefer the large Hibiscus flower, hanging 

 about it and searching with their bills the rim of the calyx for small insects. Their notes call to 

 mind, at times, those of the Tits, at others those of White-eyes." 



"This species," writes Dr. Jerdon, "appears to be more abundant in the Carnatic than in 

 any other part of the peninsula. In that district it is very common, and to be seen in almost 

 every garden, flitting about from flower to flower, its brilliant hues every now and then displayed 

 to the eye as it catches their reflection by the sun." 



Mr. Blyth gives the following account of the species : — " Very abundant in the neighbour- 

 hood of Calcutta throughout the year. It has a weak, shrill chant, delivered in the same key as 

 the song of the British Accentor modularis, and frequently emits a low, weak chirp, that recalls 

 to mind the analogous note of A. regulus, or of Certhia familiaris. The natives here take them 

 with birdlime, and after plucking out the wing-primaries to prevent their fluttering, tie them to 

 a stick and carry rows of them thus about for sale. These may be kept alive for several days on 



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