354 CISSA ORNATA. 



Since the jungle in the Central Province has been felled to such an enormous extent for coffee-planting, the 

 Jay has decreased very much in numbers below 4000 feet. Its chief home now is in the forests of the main 

 range, the Nuwara-Elliya plateau, the Peak wilderness, the upper part of Haputale, and the summits of the 

 Knuckles. In patna -jungles, however, it is always liable to be found, particularly during the boisterous 

 weather of the S.W. monsoon, when it is driven down from the mountains above. 



The Jay was first made known by Wagler, who described it in the ' Isis ' for 1829, from a specimen in 

 the Berlin Museum, to which the East Indies was assigned as the habitat. 



It seems to have escaped the notice of subsequent ornithologists until Layard's time ; while collecting in 

 Ceylon he met with it, and, being under the impression that it was new to science, he gave it its appropriate 

 synonym, C. puella, and transmitted his specimens to Blyth, who established the name. Layard writes of it, 

 " This, the most lovely of all our Ceylon birds, was discovered by me along the course of a mountain stream in 

 the jungle near Ambegamoa." 



I am glad to hear that many gentlemen in the planting districts are endeavouring to preserve this hand- 

 some species, and thus prevent the disappearance of such a pleasing ornament to the woods in the vicinity of 

 their estates. These efforts, I understand, are chiefly being made in the Dimbulla and Lindula districts. 



Habits. — This beautiful bird is of a shy disposition ; it associates generally in parties of about half a dozen, 

 and passes most of its time in the branches of tall trees, searching for lizards and large beetles, and partaking 

 of fruit of many kinds. It is, however, often met with in low underwood ; and I have several times flushed it 

 from the ground, when it flies on to low branches and speedily makes its way off. It is fond of the green 

 lizard (Calotes) , which I have on several occasions found in its stomach in large fragments. At early morning 

 they roam about the forest, keeping to the tops of the trees, and following each other with a loud clanking cry, 

 until suitable trees to feed in have been found, in which they settle down, uttering a harsh croaking note as 

 they move from branch to branch. When feeding in underwood or on the ground I have noticed that they 

 are usually silent and very watchful, which they have need to be, for their beautiful blue plumage quickly 

 attracts the attention of the sportsman. It has, notwithstanding its wary habits, a considerable amount of 

 inquisitiveness in its disposition. Layard writes thus of it: — "The last I procured fell a victim to that 

 curiosity so characteristic of the Jays. I was creeping through some thick jungle to get a shot at a large 

 Wood-Pigeon, when a Cissa flew down from some lofty trees, and, coming close to me, peered into my face. 



I waited until the bird had leisurely surveyed me and flown to a little distance, still watching my 



movements. This enabled me to shoot it." Mr. Holdsworth remarks, "They are very noisy, continually 

 littering a Jay-like scream, both when perched and flying. There is consequently little difficulty in finding 

 them out when they are in the neighbourhood ; but from their keeping so much to the dense jungle, I have on 

 several occasions worked my way quietly through the bushes to within a few yards of the birds without being 

 able to get sight of them." 



The beauty of the Jay's plumage has caused it to be recklessly shot for the sake of its feathers ; but in 

 this matter people in Ceylon are no more to blame than those in Norway, South America, and Australia, who 

 have so ruthlessly slaughtered Kingfishers, Humming-birds, and Parrakeets to satisfy a culpable taste on the 

 part of the fair sex for the ornamentation of their hats with the feathers of many of the most lovely members of 

 the bird creation ! 



Nidification. — This bird breeds during the cool season. I found its nest in the Kandapolla jungles in 

 January; it was situated in a fork of the top branch of a tall sapling, about 45 feet in height, and was a 

 tolerably bulky structure, externally made of small sticks, in the centre of which was a deep cup, 5 inches in 

 diameter by 2£ in depth, made entirely of fine roots ; there was but one egg in the nest, which unfortunately 

 got broken in being lowered to the ground. It was ovate and slightly pyriform, of a faded bluish-green ground, 

 thickly spotted all over with very light umber-brown over larger spots of bluish grey. It measured - 98 inch 

 in diameter by about 13 in length. 



The front figure in the Plate accompanying this article is that of a fine female example shot in the 

 forest surrounding the Horton Plains, and the one in the background that of a young bird. 



