MICROPTERXUS GTJLARIS. 201 



1877), gives the wings of a series taken at random from the " Nilghiris, Ceylon, and Travancore as 4 - 72, 4 - 85, 

 4 - 75, 4-68, 4-71, 4-6, 4 - 78, 4-85, 4 - 8, 4-7;" all but three of these dimensions exceed the maximum of Ceylon birds. 

 He remarks that the tail-bands are usually six in number : I take it for granted that the black tip, 06 to OS inch 

 in depth, is not included in this number ; and if so, most Indian birds must have an extra band on the caudal 

 feathers. Lord Tweeddale records an instance of a Malabar specimen having the crimson " points " quite round 

 the eye ; this appears to be a characteristic distinction of M. badiosus from Borneo. Ceylonese females are quite 

 as pale as South-Indian. 

 Perhaps no genus of "Woodpeckers has its members so closely allied as this ; the different species have a general 

 resemblance to one another, but yet possess certain nice points of distinction peculiar to types from certain regions 

 which serve to assign them to specific rank. M. phaioceps from Bengal is a larger bird than ours : wings 5*1, 5 - 3, 4'7. 

 It is paler on the head, and has the white-margined feathers of the throat concolorous with the fore neck and chest. 

 M. bracliyurus (or M. badius), according to Mr. Hume, has the white-tipped throat-feathers banded with dark 

 brown like M. gularis ; but they extend on to the cheeks, whereas in the latter they do not surmount the rami of 

 the lower mandible ; the head is paler than in M. phaioceps, and the crimson dotting of the face the same in extent, 

 or not extending above the angle of the eye : this species inhabits Java, and to it Mr. Hume unites the bird from 

 Tenasserim. The fourth species {M. badiosus) differs solely in the red points extending round the eye; but this 

 would seem to be the case, in isolated instances, with some individuals from Malabar. 



Distribution. — This bird has hitherto been considered rare in Ceylon, and likewise of local distribution. 

 It is, however, widely distributed, for I have met with it in all my wanderings through the low country. It 

 is less common, I think, in the north than elsewhere ; but yet I have seen it in many parts of the forest-clad 

 country from Tamblegam to the neighbourhood of Anaradjapura. It is found within four miles of Colombo, 

 and is pretty evenly diffused throughout the Western Province : in the south I have met with it chiefly near 

 the Gindurah, and in the south-east found it at Tissa Maha Rama and other places ; it is not uncommon in 

 parts of the " Park " country, and I have met with it near Nilgalla ; but in all these districts of the eastern 

 portion of the island it is likely to be passed over unless the collector be well on the alert, for it is found 

 usually in the wilder parts of the forest, where the jungle is thin and scattered or interspersed with open glades- 

 In the Seven Korales it is pretty common, and Mr. Parker writes me that it is numerous about Uswewa. It 

 occurs in the valley of Dumbara ; but I do not know that it ascends much higher than that. Mr. Bligh has 

 seen it in Haputale up to about 2000 feet. In the peninsula of India it is found " in the forests of Malabar, 

 both above and below the Ghats, from the extreme south to north latitude 16°." At the latter extreme it is 

 rarer than further south. Mr. Fairbank records it from Khandala and Mahabaleshwar, where it inhabits the 

 western slopes of the hill-ranges. Further north than this I do not think it has been met with. It is, I 

 imagine, more common on the Nilghiris and the adjacent Malabar coast than in the extreme south, for I do 

 not find it recorded either from the Travancore or Palani hills. 



Habits. — The Bay Woodpecker is an active and restless bird, astir the first thing in the morning, making 

 its loud note, queemp-queep, heard before many other birds have begun to think about their morning rambles ! 

 It is found in thick forest, in compounds filled with cocoanut, bread-fruit, and jack trees, at the borders of 

 jungle-begirt paddy-fields, and in detached woods. It usually mounts to the top of a tree, and selecting some 

 dead branch, taps away at it, diligently listening in the intervals until its luckless prey is discovered. It may 

 be approached easily when thus engaged, and when disturbed does not fly far. It goes more on the ground, I 

 think, than the last species, for I have several times surprised a pair breaking up dried cattle ordure ; and on one 

 occasion, in the north of Ceylon, came on one busily attacking a stream of black ants as they filed in close order, 

 a dozen abreast, across a jungle-path. This insect, the short black ant [Formica exundansT), forms the Bay 

 Woodpecker's favourite food in the forest districts ; it attacks the large black pendent nests which it constructs 

 and entirely consumes its numerous inhabitants. Mr. Parker writes me that he once descried an individual 

 issuing from a round hole in a large nest, and found, on examining it, that the interior was completely 

 hollowed out. When flushed from the ground it rises with a loud flutter to the nearest tree, and often flies 

 suddenly from branch to branch, and so decamps to another place of safety. I have more than once found its 

 breast smeared and discoloured with some viscous substance, which must be the gum from the bark of certain 

 trees. Its flight is very jerky and not swift, being performed with alternate beating and closing of the wings. 



I am unable to furnish any information concerning this bird's nesting. 



. 2d 



