422 SIPIIIA TICKELLLE. 



examined from the latter present slight points of dissimilarity. Two males from Kattiawar (wings 2-8 and 

 2-9 inches), and another labelled " India" (wing 2*8), in the British Museum, have the breasts somewhat deeper 

 rufous. An example from Yunnan has the lower parts tinged faintly with rufous, like my Opate bird ; and another, 

 a female from the peninsula of India, is paler than insidar females on the back, and has the abdomen and veni 

 faintly tinged with rufous-buff. These instances tend to show that the Indian and Javan birds almost run into 

 one another. In regard to the latter, 0. banyumas, with which our species was formerly confounded, its only 

 distinctive character lies in the belly and under tail-coverts being more or less washed with the rufous hue of the 

 breast, instead of being white. I say. more or less, because some examples are much paler in this respect than 

 others. A male from Bintulu, W. Borneo (wing 2-75), has the belly and under tail-coverts quite rufous ; while 

 two others from Labuan have these parts only slightly tinged with it, being very little deeper-coloured than 

 the above-mentioned Southern-Ceylon example. 



Distribution. — This Flycatcher is widely dispersed through the whole island, being an inhabitant of all 

 forest and tracts of jungle, and is very numerous, being equally at home in the vast jungles of the north and 



and in the tall timber-forests of Saffragam and the south-western hill-district. In the Central Province 

 it ranges up to 4000 feet, commonly iu Uva, and more rarely in the western portions of Dirubulla, Maskeliya, &c. 

 In the great forest-districts of the island its favourite habitat arc the borders of rivers and tanks; but it is so 

 common there, that it may be met with in any part of the jungle, and was in the Trincomalie district even an 

 inhabitant of the isolated Ostenburgh woods between the harbour and the sea. In the south-west it is more 

 abundant in the timber-forests on the banks of the Gindurah than elsewhere ; but in parts of the Western 

 Province (at Kaduwella and other places between Colombo and Saffragam, for instance) 1 have found it 

 occupying the compounds and gardens of the natives, as well as the jungles surrounding the villages. 



It is singular that a bird so common was not noticed by Lay aid during his travels through the 

 island. 



On the mainland this species extends from South India to the north-west of the peninsula, where it is 

 found in the hilly tracts of Kattiawar, but nowhere else, according to Mr. Hume, in the circumjacent region, 

 except at Mount Aboo, where Captain Butler procured it. Mr. Hume records it from Kumaon ; and it doubtless 

 occurs further east along the base of the Himalayas, as it lias been got near Calcutta. It is not mentioned 

 in ' Stray Feathers' as inhabiting Burmah or Tenasserim, although the late Marquis of Tweeddale says that it 

 was obtained by Lieutenant Ramsay in Karennee. I am also unable to separate the example above cited, in 

 Dr. Anderson's " Yunnan " collection, from Indian examples of the species. In Central India it is not 

 uncommon ; Mr. Ball procured it in the Satpura hills, and remarks that it is rare in Chota Nagpur. 

 Mr. Fail bank writes that it is found everywhere iu the Khaiulala district in suitable localities; and 

 Messrs. Davidson and Wender record it from Sholapoor, in the Deccan. Jerdon writes that it inhabits the 

 Carnatic and the Malabar coast, and Mr. Fairbank procured it in the Palani hills. 



Habits. — This pretty bird frequents a variety of situations in jungle and forest, avoiding, however, 

 borny scrubs in the dry coast-districts ; it is very partial to tall underwood beneath the gigantic trees 

 which line and overhang the river- banks in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, or rear their majestic heads in 

 the shade of the lofty precipices which scarp the rocky ranges of the Park country. Iu such spots, which 

 -tir the life of myriads of tropical insects, these little birds ply their busy vocation, the male constantly 

 piping out its sweet quick little whistle, resembling somewhat the syllables tcc-tili-wit-fitu-weee, which is 

 answered by the female with a monosyllabic "chit'" note. In the dusk of the evening it is a most restless 

 bird, the male resorting to some overshadowed thicket, and flying from branch to branch, repeatedly uttering 

 its whistle, which is continued long after the dense surrounding forest has shut out the last rays of departing 

 daylight. It is at these times very difficult to catch sight of, its dark blue plumage assimilating with the 

 gloomy aspect of the jungle. It is unsociable towards its fellows, the males strictly keeping at a distance from 

 one another, even when there are several in the same glen or grove. During most part of the day it does 

 not display any great activity, but rests, after the morning meal, on slender horizontal branches, now and then 

 making a sally at a passing insect. 



Nidification. — In the Western Province I have shot the young in nestling-plumage at the end of June, 



