MEGAL^MA FLAVIFBONS. 



(THE YELLOW-FRONTED BARBET.) 



(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Buccoflavifrons, Cuv. Reg. An. i. p. 428 (1817). 



Bucco aurifrons, Temm. PL Col. texte (1831). 



Megalcema jlavifrons, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 143 (1850); Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1852, 



p. 179, et Ibis, 1866, p. 227; Gray, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. Capit. p. 8 (1868); Marshall, 



Monog. Capit. pi. 30 (1871). 

 Majahdma favifrons, Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 127 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. 



Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 447; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 429; Layard, P. Z. S. 1873, 



p. 204; Legge, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 365. 

 I Oyanops Jlavifrons, Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 314 (1862); Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 297; Legge, 



Ibis, 1874, p. 15. 

 Le Barbut a front d'or, Levaill. Barbus, pi. 35 ; The Yellow-headed Barbet, Kelaart ; The 



" Showier" Europeans in planting districts. 

 Kotoruwa, Sinhalese. 



<J ad. supra prasinus, interscapulio obscurius viridi, occipitis nucha* et colli postici plumis clare flavo medialiter 

 striatis : remigibus nigris, extiis prasinis, intiis flavo marginatis : cauda prasina : froute et vertice aurato-flavis : 

 loris, fascia superciliari, facie laterali, gulaque totfi cyaneis : genis anticis aurato-flavis, fasciam mystacalem parvam 

 formautibus : corpore reliquo subtus pallide viridi, juguli et pectoris plumis prasiuo marginatis : subalaribus 

 pallide ochrascenti-fulvis, obscure viridi lavatis: rostro viridescenti-corneo, inandibula pallidiore : pedibus pallide 

 viridescentibus : iride dilute rubra. 



2 inari similis. 



Adult mid*' and female. Length 8 - 3 to 8-9 inches ; wing 3 - 45 to 3-7 : tail 2-2 to 2-3 ; tarsus 0"9 to 1*0 ; outer anterior 

 toe and claw 0-95 to 1-05 ; outer posterior toe i>-.S"> : bill to gape 1'15 to 1*3 ; height at front of nostril 032 to 

 (>4. Fanttlf.i average slightly smaller than males, and the bills of both sexes vary in size. 



J n this species the bristles at the gape and chin are slight, and the lores more feathered thau in the preceding. 



Iris light red, or pale brownish red, a pale outer circle often present; bill greenish born, slightly dusky at base of 

 culmen, lower mandible paler ; tarsi and feet sickly green, the tarsi in some bluish ; soles yellow, claws dusky. 



Lores, a superciliary stripe, cheeks, ear-coverts, and throat pale verditer-blue, lightest on the latter part; a spot beneath 

 i lie gape, forehead, and front of crown amber-yellow, passing on the head into brownish green, and from that into 

 the grass-green of the back, wings, and tail ; nape, sides, and back of neck marked with light striaj, yellowish on 

 the former, and greenish white on the neck; outer primaries and inner webs of quills brown, margined internally 

 with yellowish : longer primaries outwardly edged light towards the tips ; beneath pale green ; bases of abdominal 

 feathers whitish ; chest and sides of breast with crescentic margins of brownish green. 



06s. The coloration of this Barbet is peculiar, inasmuch as it forms a link between the Cyanops group and that 

 comprised of the members of the genus Megalcema. Although now classed with the latter, it has, as I have 

 pointed out above, a slight dissimilarity in the less amount of facial bristling and more feathered lores, besides 

 which its bill is shorter in proportion to its width at the base. Some variation in its plumage is observable : the 

 extent of the frontal yellow varies, in some specimens it ceases abruptly, while in others it passes back almost to 

 the occiput. The stria; on the hind neck are sometimes broad and almost white in colour, individuals so marked 

 having the lunulations on the chest very pale; this is, perhaps, a sign of immaturity. There is no difference in 

 size between low-country and hill birds, some Mahara specimens in my collection being as large as, if not larger 

 than, any others. 



