CENTROPUS CHLORORHYNCHUS. 



(THE CEYLON ESE COUCAL.) 

 (Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Centronics chlororhynchus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1849, xviii. p. 805 ; Gray, Gen. Birds, iii. 

 App. p. 22(1845); Blyth, Cat. Birds A. S. B. p. 78 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, 

 Cat. p. 128 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 450; Cab. et 

 Heine, Mus. Hein. iv. p. 116 (1862); Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 298; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 

 1872, p. 433 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 16. 



Green-billed Jungle- Crow, Europeans in Ceylon. 



JEUi-Jcukkula, Sinhalese, Western Province. 



Siiuilis C. rvfipenni, sed rostro viridi et magis curvato : pileo et collo postico amethystino-purpureo nitentibus : inter- 

 scapulii plumarum apicibus scapularibusque concoloribus : remigibus terminaliter magis quam in 0. rufipenni 

 infuscatis. 



Adult male and female. Length 16-2 to 17"75 inches; wing 6 - 3 to 6 - 5 ; tail 9'0 to 9'5 ; tarsus 1-7 to 1-8; outer 

 anterior toe 1-35 to 1-5, its claw (straight) 0-5 ; outer posterior toe and claw 1-4, long posterior claw 0-7 ; bill 

 to gape 1*6 to l - 75. 



Iris deep red or dull crimson ; bill pale apple-green, slightly pale along the margins ; inside of mouth, except towards 

 the tips, orbital skin, and nostril-membrane black ; legs and feet black ; claws dusky, greenish at the base. 



Entire plumage, except the wings, scapulars, and tips of interscapular feathers, black, glossed on the back of the head, 

 hind neck, upper part of interscapular^ region, and the throat with purple, changing towards the tips of the 

 feathers into beautiful amethystine ; the lower parts and upper surface of tail with blue, and the back with 

 obscure metallic green ; the quills are dark chestnut, much more infuseated at the tips than the last species ; the 

 wing-coverts and scapulars are darker still, or of a dull maroon, with the bases of the feathers blackish ; under 

 wing-coverts blackish. 



Young. The fledged nestling has the iris slate-grey ; bill dusky at base and along the culmen, with the apical portion 



greenish ; legs and feet dusky flesh-colour. 

 Wings and scapulars red as in adult, black plumage the same : but the feathers of the head are encased in soft sheaths 



or " pens," each of which terminates in a long white hair-like process, which in time drops off, the feather emerging 



from the tip. 



The yearling bird has the bill as in the adult, but with the tip of the lower mandible dusky. The upper plumage is 

 not so highly bronzed as in the old bird ; wing-coverts obscurely barred with blackish, tips of quills more infus- 

 eated ; inner webs of tertials concolorous with the tips. 



06s. This species is closely allied to the preceding, its most conspicuous distinguishing characteristic being its green 

 bill, which is also more curved than that of O. rujvpennis ; but the richer metallic hues and dark-tipped wings 

 would well suffice to separate it even were the bill of the same colour. 



Distribution. — This handsome species was discovered by Layard in 1848 on the Avisawella road ; but one 

 specimen was then procured by him, which was forwarded to Blyth and described by this naturalist under its 

 present title. In 1852 Layard again met with it, securing another example at Hanwella and three more " in 

 the dense jungle near Pallabaddoola, at the foot of the Peak." These researches, therefore, gave but a very 

 small range, the extreme limits falling within forty miles. Mr. Holdsworth records the fact of seeing an 

 individual of the species once, but did not procure it. Mr. Neville, I understand, obtained several specimens 

 in the Western Province, probably between Ratnapura and Colombo, and was, prior to the date of my 

 acquaintance with it, the only collector who, besides Layard, as far as I am aware, ever procured it. 



Instead of being so rare as was hitherto supposed, this " Jungle-Crow" exists in considerable numbers 

 throughout the tract of country which it inhabits. This consists of the south-west hill-region, ranging from 



