PBENIS PTILOXORHYNCHTJS. 91 



brown, crossed with dark bars alternating with the interspaces of the inner webs ; tail smoky brown, deeply tipped 

 with white, and crossed with four narrow and rather irregular bars of dark sepia-brown, the subterminal one not 

 much broader than the others, and the light portions crossed with wavy light rays ; throat and entire under 

 surface, with the under wing and the edge above the metacarpal joint, pure unmarked white ; ear-coverts pale 

 brownish. 

 From this stage the first advance towards adult plumage is made (probably after the first moult) by the head, hind 

 neck, and upper surface generally becoming more uniformly dark, although there is usually still a good deal of 

 white about the hind neck ; the dark lores and space behind the eye extend, and the cheeks and face become 

 striated with dark brown, and a series of streaks from the gape down each side of the throat appear as the first 

 signs of the future dark stripe; the bars on the tail, especially the subterminal one, become broader; the chest and 

 breast assume blackish-brown stripes, more or less broad, on the white ground, while the lower breast, flanks, and 

 abdomen become, in some examples, barred with brown, and iu others washed over the whole feather with the 

 same, the flanks and thigh-coverts generally being the darkest. In this stage, I believe, a considerable advance in 

 the plumage is made by a change in the feather itself ; and hence the great variety in the birds at this age. The 

 dark grey hue of the lores spreads over the cheeks ; the ear-coverts and forehead become nearly concolorous with 

 the crown ; the broad lateral throat- stripes of black develop and spread across the fore neck, the chin and gorge 

 becoming brownish ; at the same time the bars on the lower parts of those examples having the barred feature 

 spread over the feather, or the brown of the flanks in the other type encroaches gradually on the breast. 



Obs. Mr. Gurney has noticed that Ceylonese specimens of this Honey-Buzzard are larger than those from India. As 

 will be seen, the above list contains some very high wing-measurements ; but if au extensive series of Indian birds 

 be examined, I have no doubt some will be found equally large. Mr. Hume gives the largest wing, in six females 

 measured, as 17-25, and Mr. Sharpe, in his Catalogue, the average of a large series as 16-5. Some I have 

 measured in the British Museum are as follows — (Deccan) 16-2, (Nepaul) 16-2, (N. Bengal) 17 - 4, (Kamptee) 16-3, 

 (Himalayas) 17*1, (Darjiling) 15-9. All our largest specimens have been shot in the hills of Ceylon ; and, as I 

 demonstrate below that the species is for the most part migratory to Ceylon, these large birds must be not 

 inferior to their fellows elsewhere, or they must be bred on the hills of the island. Mr. Sharpe has measured an 

 example from Java with the wing 17 - 8, which favours the idea that Ceylonese birds may migrate from that quarter, 

 although it must be remarked that Javan birds have longer crests than ours. Much has been said about the 

 irregular plumage of the Honey-Buzzards ; but if a series of examples of different ages be examined, a regular 

 gradation in the plumage, from the pale-chested bird up to the one with the grey face (which is an unmistakable 

 sign of age) and the dark under surface, can be noticed. The fact of white-chested birds breeding with dark ones 

 can be easily explained by assuming that there is in the Honey-Buzzard, as in some Eagles, a permanent light phase. 



Distribution. — The Honey-Buzzard is to a certain extent a migratory bird to Ceylon, and appears, from 

 what I observed wdiile in the island, to make its appearance first of all on the north and north-east coasts, 

 which leads to the inference that it migrates with the north-east monsoon from Burmah, or perhaps from the 

 southern part of the Indian peninsula, to Ceylon. It used to appear yearly on the coast about Trincomalie 

 during November and December, and then depart into the interior. In 1871 I obtained two newly arrived 

 and very tame examples in the Fort, which is a point of call for many migrants arriving with the north-east 

 wind on that part of the coast. Several other birds haunted the vicinity of the town at the same time; in the 

 following year, however, scarcely an example was to be seen, although it was comparatively numerous in the 

 Kandy district. It was first recorded as a Ceylonese bird by Mr. Holdsworth (loc. cit.), from an adult female 

 shot by Mr. Forbes Laurie in the Madoolkella district, not far from Kandy. It had prior to this been 

 received from Ceylon, but its occurrence omitted to be noticed in print. It locates itself in the northern 

 forests, preferring the vicinity of the tanks which abound in that part ; and many birds remain there yearly, and 

 doubtless breed in those unfrequented haunts. I have seen it in such places during the south-west monsoon, 

 and have likewise received specimens from Avisawela and Kurunegala, in the western part of the island, at the 

 same season of the year. I have shot it in August in the Park country, where it is not uncommon ; and I 

 have no doubt it inhabits the forests between Badulla and Hambantota. In the south-west I have never 

 known it to occur. As regards the mountain-region, it is principally found about Dumbara and other places 

 of intermediate altitude in the direction of Kandy. y Occasionally, however, it ascends much above this; for 

 Mr. Bligh has shot it in Dimbula. It is possible that some of the birds occurring on the hills have been bred 

 there, as they appear to be larger than those which are evidently migrants. 



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