376 HEMIPUS PICATUS. 



tract of the northern plains, stretching from Puttalara across to the Mahawelligauga, in a part of which (the 

 high jungles between Minery and Kowdella) I found it as plentiful as in the hills. In the Saffragam forests 

 and the wilder districts of the Western Province nearer the sea it is likewise found ; and I have procured it 

 as near Colombo as the jungle at Atturugeria, on the Kotte and Bope road. 



This little Shrike is common in the south of India and the central portions of the peninsula. Jerdon 

 found it in the Nilghiris and along the crest of the Western Ghats. On the Nilghiris he obtained it as 

 high as 7000 feet. Mr. Bourdillon remarks of it that it is not very abundant in Travancore ; and 

 Mr. Fairbank observed but few on the Palanis. Should Mr. Hume be correct in joining the two species, 

 H. capitalis and H. jricatus, the range of this little bird becomes considerably extended, as the northern form 

 is found in Chota Nagpur, Northern India, the Himalayas up to an elevation of 5000 feet, and also in 

 Burmah. In Tenasserim Mr. Davison procured it in the neighbourhood of Pahpoon only ; and I conclude 

 this is the most southerly point to which it has been traced on the eastern side of the Bay. 



Habits. — This is a tame but at the same time an interesting little bird ; so unobservant is it of human 

 intrusion on its haunts that it may be watched most closely without its being disturbed ; and I know no dimi- 

 nutive denizen of the tall forests of the Ceylon mountains, save perhaps the lively little Grey-headed Flycatcher 

 (Culicicapa ceylonensis) , which better repays a cursory glance at its manners and occupations. It is 

 generally found in pairs, frequenting tall trees near the edges of forest and heavy jungle ; and it perches 

 high aloft among the branches, sallying out from its seat after the manner of a Flycatcher, and catching a 

 passing insect, which it will frequently convey to its original perch before devouring. It is slower in its 

 movements than the members of the family Museicapidse, but on the whole its habits are more those of a 

 Flycatcher than a Shrike. It is of stationary habit, frequenting the same spot for hours together; and it 

 usually prefers the company of its own fellows to that of other small birds, though it may at times be seen 

 with Minivets, Bluetits, and Grey-headed Flycathers. It constantly utters its shrill little note, which may 

 be likened to the syllables tcheetiti, tckeetiti, tcheetlti-clieee. Jerdon remarks that in India " it is generally seen 

 in small parties of five or six wandering about from tree to tree, and every now and then darting on insects 

 in the air. It has a pleasing little song, not often heard however." My experience of it in Ceylon differs 

 from this, for there it constantly utters the above-described note. Mr. Oates, in writing of the Tenasserim 

 bird, likewise comments on its Flycatcher-like habits as follows : — " They are rather Flycatchers than Shrikes 

 in their habits, moving about, no doubt, amongst the leaves at the tops of trees like the Wood-Shrike, but 

 continually darting out and seizing insects on the wing, which the Wood-Shrikes, I think, never do. They 

 continually call to each other, uttering a sharp soft note." 



Xi/Iification. — In the south of India this little Shrike breeds in March. Mr. Davison thus describes a 

 nest he found : — " For the size of the bird it was an exceedingly small, shallow nest, and might very easily 

 have passed unnoticed ; the bird sitting on it appeared to be resting only on a small lump of moss and lichen." 

 It was placed in the fork of an upper branch of a rather tall Berberis leschenaulti, and was composed of grass 

 and fine roots, covered externally with pieces of cobweb, grey lichen, and bits of moss, taken evidently 

 from the same tree on which the nest was built. The eggs were three in number, elongated ovals, and entirely 

 devoid of gloss ; the ground-colour pale greenish or greyish white, profusely blotched, blotted, and streaked 

 with darker and lighter shades of umber-brown, more or less confluent, in one case, at the larger, and in the 

 other at the smaller end. Dimensions 07 by 0'5 inch, and 069 by - 49 inch. 



