252 EUDYNAMYS HONORATA. 



barred with white, tinged generally to a greater or less extent with fulvous ; forehead marked with fulvous 

 terminal spots or broad mesial stripes ; beneath white, with basal or longitudinal blackish marks on the throat, 

 angular or arrow-headed on the chest, gradually changing into wavy bars ou the breast ; the flanks and the under 

 tail-coverts boldly barred with dark greenish brown : the lower parts from the breast downwards more or less 

 washed with fulvous. 



Young. Males in nestling plumage have the iris mottled red ; bill greenish, dusky at the base ; legs and feet plumbeous. 

 Upper surface and wing-coverts dingy or brownish metallic green, the feathers with white terminal spots ; under 



surface the same, with terminal bars of white ; under tail-coverts and under wing-coverts barred with white ; 



tail-feathers tipped and adjacently marked with whitish. 

 The female in immature plumage has the head, hind neck and its sides, face, and throat striated with rufous ; the 



spottings on the back and wing-coverts, and the bars on the scapulars and tertials, tinged strongly with the same : 



the bars on the tail-feathers rich tawny, and the under surface washed with the same. 

 Young females vary in their coloration, as, in fact, the adults also do ; scarcely any two female Koels are marked 



exactly alike, differing in the extent of the spotting and barring of the upper surface, and in the amount of 



rufous on the forehead, of which our birds seem to have more than Indian. 



Obs. A comparison of a series of Indian examples with my Ceylonese specimens does not disclose any points of 

 difference between the two races except in the above-mentioned respect. A male from Madras has the wing 

 7'2 inches, and is identical with examples in my collection ; another from Central India is larger, wing 7'8 inches. 



The several species of Koel which inhabit the region to the east of the Bay of Bengal and the Malayan archipelago 

 are closely allied, the males being black, and the chief specific difference lying in the coloration of the females. 



K. malayana, Cab. et Heine, from Assam, Burmah, Tenasseriin, Malacca, and Sumatra, has a larger bill than our bird, 

 is longer in the wing, and the females are boldly marked with rufous. I have measured examples iu the national 

 collection varying from 7 - 4 to 7'6 inches in the wing, but it is said to reach 8-0 inches. 



E. ransomi, from Ceram and Bouru, is a very fine species, with the wing 8-6 to 9-0 inches, tail 8"0 to 9-0, bill to 

 gape 1*4 ; the female is very handsomely marked, its coloration being likewise rufous. 



E. orientalis. An example, male, from Lombok has the wing 8-1 inches : a female is greenish black, barred with fulvous 

 and while: the forehead and a superciliary band yellowish rufous, centre of the crown dusky green ; wings and 

 tail barred with rufous : another female is rufous beneath, barred with black ; the upper surface dark green, barred 

 with black. 



Distribution. — The Koel is found all over the low country. It is equally common in the northern and 

 southern portions of the island, including the Jaffna peninsula. Mr. Holdsworth only observed it at Aripu 

 from November till April, and inferred that it was migratory to Ceylon. It moves about a good deal according 

 to the weather, leaving the sea-board of the Western Province for the interior during the wet windy months 

 from May until October ; but this is all : away from the sea I have seen it at all seasons. On the east side of 

 the island it appears to be stationary, being at all times to be observed in that part ; and this is likewise true of 

 the north-east. It is numerous in the delta of the Mahawelliganga and on the coast in places to the north 

 of Trincomalie. In the interior it is much rarer, and, in fact, is liable to be passed over in a cirrsory inspec- 

 tion of many parts of the northern half of the island, as it is local iu its distribution there. I have not seen 

 it from the hills, but have been given to understand that it has occurred in Dumbara. 



On the continent this noisy bird is very common in most parts of the Indian peninsula. It is abundant 

 in Ramisscrum Island and on the south coast of India; in the Palani bills it likewise occurs ; in the Deccan it 

 is common and widely distributed. Mr. Ball says it is tolerably common in the eastern parts of Chota Nagpur, 

 but is seldom met with in the western, more jungly districts. Further to the west it appears to be a visitant 

 only in the breeding-season, from April until October. Mr. Adam remarks that during his stay at Sambhur 

 it only visited the place once or twice during the raius; in Sindh it is likewise non-resident, and in the 

 Mouut-Aboo district it occurs during the above-mentioned period of the year. Its inhabiting the Laccadive 

 islands is especially w : orthy of remark. Mr. Hume found it on every inhabited island that be visited; he writes 

 that, " unless perhaps at Amini and one or two of the Cannanore Islands, where there are Crows, they can 

 only be, as the people affirm, seasonal visitants, there being no bird in whose nests they could lay their eggs." 



Habits. — This is one of the noisiest birds in Ceylon, making the woods and paddy-fields ring with its 



