334 BATRACHOSTOMUS MONILIGEE. 



does the win<* fall short of 4-7 inches ; in B. punctatus, on the other hand, of which several specimens have now, 

 Mr. Whyte informs me, been obtained, the wing appears to be always under 4-5 (in the type it is only 4-3)"*. 

 With regard to the size of B. moniliger, I refer my readers to the above table ; in respect to that of Mr. Hume's 

 B. punctatus, I have only to remark that the second male specimen described in this article (a strictly punctatus 

 type of bird) has lately been sent home by Messrs. Whyte and Co. with " sp. incog." written on the label (!) — proof 

 evident that these naturalists do not know which phase of plumage represents B. punctatus. The female of 

 Mr. Bourdillon's pair, sent from Travancore to Mr. Hume, is similar to the example from Ceylon described 

 bv Blyth, and the male, as described by Mr. Hume, corresponds exactly with my Southern Ceylon one. 

 If, however, these Travancore birds prove different from Ceylonese, a new title should be bestowed upon them ; 

 and then B. moniliger will stand as one of the peculiar Ceylonese forms. That there should be two species of 

 this rare and remarkable genus in Ceylon is most unlikely. 



Distribution. — The Frog-month is widely spread throughout Ceylon, but is very seldom procured, as it 

 is strictly nocturnal and an inhabitant of the inmost recesses of the jungle. Two examples were brought to 

 Layard from the Western-Province jungles round Avisawella and Ratnapura, and a pair were met with near 

 the latter place by Mr. Mitford. One was obtained by Mr. Nevill near Aniblangoda, in the south of Ceylon, 

 and another by myself at Wackwclla near Galle. A third was shot in the Chilaw district in 1868 by the 

 taxidermist of the Colombo Museum. Two more were captured on their flying into houses in Kandy at the 

 latter end of 1875 and the beginning of 1876. In March of the former year Major Sandford, of the Royal 

 Engineers, came upon one seated asleep on a branch in low jungle near the Peria-Kulam tank, Trincomalie, 

 and described to me its toad-like and inanimate appearance as it sat with its bill pointed upwards. In 

 February 1875 Mr. Edwin Watson met with another, under similar circumstances, in jungle above Ragalla 

 Estate, at an elevation of 5600 feet. Besides the above-mentioned examples, there are the male and female 

 sent home to the British Museum by Messrs. Whyte and Co., both of which were procured near Kandy, 

 the latter at the end of last year, and the former on the 30th of January of the present year. The south- 

 eastern, eastern, and north-western portions of the island are therefore the districts in which the Frog-mouth 

 has not yet been procured or observed ; and of all parts in which it has been found the neighbourhood of 

 Kandy is that in which it has proved most numerous. It is, however, iu my private opinion, much more 

 common than is supposed ; for throughout much of the northern forest-tract, as well as in many of the bamboo- 

 districts between Colombo and Ratnapura, I have heard a singular note which I firmly believe is that of 

 this bird. It is uttered just about sunset, and from that until about 10 o'clock, and is renewed again at 

 daybreak on the following morning. It always proceeds from dense jungle, and all my efforts, which were 

 many, proved fruitless in getting a sight of the mysterious bird. 



The Frog-mouth of South India, which is presumably the same as the Ceylonese, has been found in the 

 Wynaad and in the Travancore hills up to an elevation of 2100 feet; north of these districts it has not as 

 yet been traced. 



Habits. — This singular nocturnal bird frequents thick bamboo-jungle, dense thickets, low umbrageous 

 juugle, and such-like localities. It does not appear, as a rule, to sally forth before dark into the open, as I 

 know of the testimony of but one person who has ever seen them out of jungle. Mr. Mitford, as quoted by 

 Layard in bis Notes, says that he observed a pair " frequenting a tree in full flower and capturing the beetles 

 which flew about it." Its position of rest during the day is seated across a branch with the bill pointed 

 straight upwards and its eyes of course fast closed. The bird which I was fortunate enough to meet with 

 was perched on a low bamboo in a dense thicket through which I was creeping. I was close to it when I first 

 saw it, but it was not awake ; and struck with its extreme likeness in general aspect to Podargus cuvieri, 

 with which I was acquainted in a state of nature, 1 at once identified it as the much sought after Frog-mouth, 

 and crept away to a convenient distance for shooting it. While moving off a slight crackling of the sticks 

 beneath my feet awoke it, and it slowly turned its head round in my du-ection, but I do not think it saw me. 

 Its stomach contained beetles, which form, to a considerable extent, the food of the Podargi in Australia. 

 In the stomach of one of these latter I once found a green stone of considerable size, from which I infer that 



* 5-5 and 5-3 in ' The Ibis'; presumably a printer's error (vide Str. Feath. 1874, p. 354). 



