TUKDFS SPILOPTEEA. 



(THE SPOTTED THRUSH.) 

 (Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Oreocincla spiloptera, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1847, xvi. p. 142 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 160 

 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 122 (1S52); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, 

 xii. p. 270 ; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 303 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 446 ; Legge, Ibis, 

 1874, p. 18 ; id. S.tr. Feath. 1875, p. 367. 



The Thrush, Europeans in Central Province. 



Val-avitchia, lit. " Wild Ant-thrush," Sinhalese. 



g ad. supra olivasceuti-brunneus, vix rufescens, uropygio tamen et supraeaudalibus inagis rufescentibus : tectricibus 

 alarum minimis dorso concoloribus, medianis nigris conspicue albo terminaliter maculatis, majoribus interioribus 

 dorso concoloribus, exterioribus nigris dorsi colore extiis lavatis et albo termiuatis : secundariis dorso concoloribus, 

 primariis nigricanti-brunneis, extiis dorsi colore lavatis : rectricibus mediis olivaseenti-brunneis, reliquis saturate 

 brunneis extus olivaseenti-brunneis : loris albidis : annulo ophthalmico pure albo : facie laterali albida, plumis 

 nigro termiuatis, macula infraoculari nigra : supercilio albido, supra regionem paroticam indistincto : corpore subtus 

 albo, pnepectore maculis nigris triquetris magnis ornato : pectore quoque maculato, maculis tamen minoribus et 

 magis ovalibus : gula, abdomine toto, subcaudalibus et corporis lateribus grisesceuti-brunneo lavatis : subalaribus 

 albis, majoribus basaliter nigris : axillaribus albis nigro termiuatis : remigibus infra brunneis, secundariis ad apicem 

 pogonii interni albis : rostro nigricanti-brunneo : pedibus corneo-plumbescentibus, unguibus pallide brunneis : iride 

 clare brunnea. 



Adult male and female. Length 8*0 to 8 - 7 (average 8 - 4) inches ; wing 3 - 8 to 4/1 ; tail 3 - to 3 - 2 ; tarsus l - 3 to 1*5; 

 mid toe and claw l'l to 1*25 ; bill to gape l - 05 to 1*2. 



Iris brown ; eyelid leaden grey ; bill blackish, pale at gape ; legs and feet dusky bluish grey or greyish fleshy, claws 

 dusky horn. 



Above olive-brown, more or less pervaded with a rusty hue, chiefly ou the lower back and upper tail-coverts ; least wing- 

 coverts concolorous with the back ; primaries and secondaries brown, washed with olive on the outer webs ; median 

 and greater wing-coverts with a terminal white spot, smallest on the greater series, which have their outer webs 

 concolorous with those of the quills ; tail rusty olive-brown, crossed with faint dark rays towards the end, and with 

 the inner webs dusky ; lores and a narrow imperfect supercilium whitish ; beneath the eye and the ear-coverts 

 black, the latter crossed obliquely by a white patch ; on the lower part of the cheek the feathers are tipped blackish ; 

 chin, throat, and under surface white, the feathers on the lower fore neck, chest, and breast with oval bar-like 

 terminal blackish spots ; flanks and sides of ventral region smoky olivaceous grey ; thighs olivaceous on the exterior 

 side ; under wing-coverts white, with a blackish bar formed by the tips of the median row and the bases of the 

 succeeding one. 



Females. Have the upper surface, as a rule, more rusty than males, and sometimes a buff hue on the throat and parts 



of the under surface. 

 Examples of both sexes vary in the extent of the spottiugs on the chest and sides of breast. 



Young. The nestling, when leaving the nest, has the bill brown, with the base and the tip yellowish ; legs and feet 

 bluish fleshy. Upper surface ferruginous brown, generally darker on the head and most rufous ou the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts ; the hind neck, back, and scapulars with fulvous mesial Hires, and the tips of the coverts the 

 same ; the markings of the face, ear-coverts, and sides of neck buff instead of white ; prevailing hue of the under 

 surface the same ; the chin and abdomen whitish : chest and sides of breast with blackish edgings ; the cheek- 

 patch and spot on the ujiper eyelid blacker than in the adult. 



During the first few months the bill becomes black, and the ferruginous and buff livery is doffed, the white, black- 

 spotted feathers of the chest and under surface first appearing. 



Obs. This Thrush varies, according to climate, in the hue of its upper surface. As might be expected, in the dry forests 

 of the north and east this is ferruginous, while up-country and Saffragam birds are quite olivacecus in their 

 coloration. 



3m2 



