PICUS MAHKATTENSIS. 185 



in the interior of the country between there and the central road. Further north, however, it is found, for 

 there the jungle is more suited to its habits. Mr. H. E. Hayes, of the Ceylon Public Works Dept., writes me 

 that he has met with it at a place about 22 miles from Mullaittivu, called by the euphonious Tamil name of 

 " Manawalempattumuripu \" Layard found it in the Northern Province and considered it to be confined to 

 that part. I have seen it in the scrubs to the south of Kottiar, and all that densely clothed low jungle 

 country lying between there and the Tamankadua Pattu is a most likely district for it. In the drier parts of 

 the Central Province it is not unfrequent, inhabiting the secluded patna-nullahs, which are dotted here and 

 there with clumps of wood interspersed with its favourite tree the Euphorbia. In such places I have seen it in 

 the Hewahette district and also in Uva, in which latter part I once shot it on the Logole-oya, at an elevation 

 of about 2500 feet. 



In India the Mahratta Woodpecker is dispersed pretty well all over the peninsula, being found, according 

 to Jerdon, in " almost every district up to the foot of the Himalayas, except in lower Bengal, though 

 common in the Midnapore jungles." Particularizing the localities which it inhabits, we find it recorded by 

 him as rare on the Malabar coast, but plentiful in the gap of Coimbatore. In the Palani hills it is not 

 uncommon up to 5000 feet, a very considerable elevation for a heat-loving bird as it evidently is. It does 

 not appear to be found in the Travancore hills, but Mr. Hume has received it from the Wynaad. In the 

 Deccan and Khandala district it is widely dispersed, but not abundant. Further north, about the Sambhur 

 Lake and in the Guzerat region, it is well known, though it appears, according to Mr. Hume, not to be found 

 in Sindh. In Chota Nagpur it is distributed through the Province, though not very common. In Upper 

 Pegu it again appears as the P. blanfordi of Blyth, and is, according to Captain Feilden, " found everywhere 

 from the low grounds of Thayetmyo to the tops of the highest hills." Mr. Oates says it is common near the 

 banks of the Irrawaddy, but was not observed by him far inland, showing that in Burrnah as well as in other 

 parts it is local. 



Habits. — This species frequents low jungle and scrub, particularly that in which the Euphorbia grows ; 

 it is very partial to this tree ; in fact every example I have met with in Ceylon was either actually on or in 

 the vicinity of one. On the patnas I have usually observed it among scattered trees searching the trunks 

 and branches with great agility, keeping chiefly to the underside of the latter, and working them out nearly 

 to their extremities. It is a shy bird and difficult to procure, taking itself off with a short flight to an 

 adjacent tree as soon as it perceives any one approaching it. It is usually a solitary bird, shunning the 

 company of its species except in the breeding-season. It lias a weak trill, not unlike that of the Pigmy 

 Woodpecker, but of course louder ; and Jerdon remarks that it also has a squeaking note. Layard observed 

 it chiefly about Euphorbia trees, and Mr. Holdsworth noticed it on old fences as well as dead wood. 



In India it keeps to particular trees— Babool in the Mount Aboo and Sambhur districts, and the Pulas- 

 tree [Butea frondosa) in Chota Nagpur. Captain Feilden has observed it descending a tree tail foremost 

 with great ease. Its food, according to my observations, consists mainly of small insects and ants ; but Mr. 

 Oates found small beetles in the stomach of one. 



Nidification.—The nest of the Yellow-fronted Woodpecker has never, to my knowledge, been found in 

 Ceylon. It is almost sure, however, to nest in the Euphorbia tree. In India it breeds from March until 

 April, nesting in a hole in a partially decayed branch, choosing, when it can, a Babool tree. Mr. Hume 

 records the finding of a nest at Etawah, the hole being cut on the underside of a Babool branch about 

 1-5 inch in diameter, and leading to the excavated egg-cavity about 15 inches below it; the eggs were laid 

 on chips of the wood made in excavating the hole. The eggs are three in number, less spherical thau, but 

 in size resembling, those of " the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker of Europe." Before being blown they are a 

 delicate pink, turning glossy white after being emptied of their contents. They measure 0"87 by 0"68 inch, 

 this being, according to Mr. Hume, the average of a large series* 



* I have not included Plcus macei in this work. It was mentioned by Kelaart as having been procured in the 

 island ; hut it is more than probable the bird was not correctly indentured. It is a North-Indian species, and could not 

 well have occurred in Ceylon, as Woodpeckers are not birds which stray from their usual habitat. 



O T, 



