GECINUS STEIOLATUS. 195 



well, and the markings on the throat are confined to these mesial lines ; under wing-coverts with arrow-shaped 

 bars, and the bases of the under tail-coverts with a central spear-shaped mark. 



Female. Has the crown as well as the nape black, the ear-coverts darker, and the throat perhaps duskier, as a rule, 

 than in the male ; the frontal feathers are pale-edged, the central portions only being black. 



Obs. The under surface of this Woodpecker is variable in appearance, owing to a discoloration of the feathers ; it is 

 only in new plumage that the green hue of the chest and breast is pure ; it soon becomes sullied, and 

 scarcely any two specimens (at least according to my experience of a tolerably large series of Indian and Ceylonese 

 individuals) have the lower parts of the same hue, some being completely brownish, the green tint of the central 

 portions of the feathers being only perceptible on close examination. 



Ceylonese examples are identical with Indian in plumage, and are quite equal to the general run of these in size. 

 Prom an examination of a series in the national collection, from Nepal and other districts, I find that the wings 

 in the males vary from 4-9 to 5-2 inches, and in females from 4-8 to 5-0. Mr. Ball's tabulation of Chota-Nagpur 

 specimens shows the wing in 3 males as 5 - 05 inches, and in a female as 4-95 ; the bills in these specimens are 

 remarkably long, varying from l - 6 to 1-7. A female from the Palanis measures — wing 5 - 0, bill from gape 1"4. 

 Burmese examples are large : wing 5 - 3 to 5-55. 



This species is tolerably closely related to three others, viz. G. viridanus from Burmah, Q. squamatus from the 

 Himalayas, and 67. dimidiatus from Java. It is most nearly allied to the first named, which Jerdon calls " a 

 duplicate of it." 67. viridanus, however, is a larger bird ; the wings in a male measure 5 - 4 and in a female 5 - 6 inches. 

 It has a greener under surface, the quills are much darker, and the rump is not so yellow as in G. striolatus ; the 

 black superciliary line is bolder in the male, and the black moustachial band broader, with the feathers con- 

 spicuously white-edged. In the female the forehead is uniform black, and the cheek-band much more pronounced; 

 while the quills and rump present the same distinction as in the male. 



G. squamatus is also considerably larger than G. striolatus, and has the scale-like markings of the under surface confined 

 to the lower breast and abdomen. The forehead in the female is again uniform black, and not edged with whitish, 

 as in G. striolatus. 



G. dimidiatus is about the same size as G. striolatus (wing 5-0 inches), with the bill perhaps shorter as a rule. The 

 fore neck and chest is uniform green, the breast and lower parts with conspicuous, blackish, scale-like markings ; 

 rump not so yellow as in G. striolatus; in the female, as in the last, the forehead presents the same peculiarity, being 

 quite black. 



Distribution. — This Woodpecker has a restricted range in Ceylon, being, as far as is yet known, quite a 

 hill-bird. Until late years it escaped all observation, and had no place in the Ceylon lists, which was owing to 

 the imperfect exploration of the patnas in the Central Province, to which it is almost entirely restricted. 



The first specimen brought to the notice of the ornithological world was killed in 1872 in the Pusselawa 

 district, and was recorded by me, loc. cit. Mr. Laurie procured a female example about the same time in the 

 Knuckles district. Subsequently Mr. Bligh obtained a pair in the Haputale ranges, the shooting of which 

 was recorded in the ' Observer.' These were killed at an elevation of 4500 feet, and others have since been 

 shot by him at the same elevation near the Catton estate. It is more plentiful in the Uva patna basin (i. e. 

 the great stretch of grassy scrub-covered hills extending across from Udu Pusselawa to the northern 

 slopes of the Haputale hills) and in the district beyond Badulla than in any other part, save perhaps the 

 similarly featured country below Hangrankette. I have shot it near Lunugalla, and on the Logole-oya in 

 Madulsima, and likewise in the valley in Lower Hewahette ; and I once met with it in the low-lying patnas 

 at the foot of the Hewa-EUiya range at an elevation of about 1000 feet. 



It is not improbable that it will be found in the Rakwana district, and perhaps on the Karawita hills ; 

 and in the Central Province it may possibly extend considerably down the valley of the Mahawelliganga, where 

 the country is open, grassy, and dotted with scattered timber. 



On the mainland this Green Woodpecker enjoys an extensive range, being found in Southern and Central 

 India and in the Himalayas. Jerdon remarks that he has seen it in Malabar in low jungle near the sea, in 

 bushy ground on the Nilghiris and on the Eastern Ghats, and also that it occurs rarely near Calcutta. 



In the Palani hills Mr. Fairbank procured a single specimen at 4000 feet elevation ; but he remarks that 

 it is absent from the Khandala district. Mr. Ball's experience of it is that it is rare in Chota Nagpur and 

 more abundant in the Satpura hills, and that it occurs sparingly throughout the coast-region lying between 

 the Mahanadi and Godavery rivers. In the north-west it is local; Captain, Butler procured it in the jungles 



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