464 MYIOPHONUS BLIGHI. 



General plumage black ; the hind neck, back, wiug-coverts, and rump washed with hyacinth-blue ; the centre portion 

 of the feathers black ; point of the wing deep hyacinth-bine ; wings and tail black, the outer webs washed with 

 blue ; beneath black, washed with a darker blue than that of the back, except at the flanks, belly, and thighs, which 

 are dull blackish ; the bases of the feathers of the upper surface from the scapular region downwards, and of the 

 under surface from the chest to the abdomen, are marked with a white lanceolate stripe ; this character is not 

 noticeable unless the feathers be raised. 



An example of a male M, horsfieldi in the British Museum measures in the wing 6'3 inches. The species is very 

 handsome. The lores and a frontal band are intense velvety black, while the head and the entire neck, chest, 

 and interscapular region are jet-black ; the outer webs of the wing-feathers are bright greenish blue, those of the ■ 

 tail a darker blue ; least wing-coverts glistening smalt-blue ; feathers of the breast and underparts with broad 

 crescentic edgings of smalt-blue, of a deeper hue than that of the shoulder. 



Distribution. — The present species, which is one of our rarest hill-birds, was discovered in 18G8 by 

 Mr. Samuel Bligh. He obtained it at an altitude of about 4200 feet, in forest on the banks of the Lemastota 

 oya, which descends through the magnificent gorge below the Pite-Ratmalie Estate, Haputale, to the town of 

 Lemas. Since that time he has procured one or two examples, and tells me that he has seen it several times, 

 both in the Haputale and Kotmalie districts. In July 1870, Mr. Holdsworth procured a young bird near 

 Nuwara Elliya; and in 1875 a male in fine plumage was shot by myself on the Badulla road, just above 

 the Hakgala Gardens; finally, in December 1876 and in January 1877, Mr. Cobbold, of Maskeliya, 

 obtained two male examples on the Maskeliya oya, a tributary of the Kelaui, at about 3800 feet. In 

 addition to the record of these few captures, I may mention that Mr. Forbes Laurie met with an individual 

 on bis estate at Kabragalla, near Nawalapitiya, at an elevation of about 3000 feet. This altitude is the lowest 

 to which I have heard of it ranging; and I have no doubt it will be found in other forests of similar elevation 

 throughout the coffee- districts ; but I apprehend the jungles of the main range form its chief habitat. It is no 

 doubt more common than such isolated captures would lead us to believe ; but being a denizen of forest-clad 

 mountain-gorges, which are mostly difficult of access, it has hitherto almost entirely escaped observation. 



Habits. — The very shy nature of this haudsome bird has doubtless conduced to its non-discovery until so 

 recent a period. Mr. Blyth, in his note above quoted, remarked that a Myiophonus, or Whistling Thrush, was 

 not a likely bird to have been overlooked; but, nevertheless, such was the case, for until late years the forests 

 of the upper ranges had only been cursorily explored, and their most interesting novelties consequently 

 remained to be discovered. It affects the vicinity of mountain-streams, and is very wary, keeping almost 

 entirely to the shade of the thick forest, and only now and then showing itself on the rocks of the dashing 

 torrent, where it will rest for a moment, piping out its " long-drawn, plaintive though loud, whistling note/' or 

 it will seize some looked-for morsel of food and then dart quickly out of sight. Its discoverer remarks that at 

 such times it is very impatient of observation, and also that it appears to consort in pairs ; this condition is, 

 however, doubtless varied by the companionship of the yearling birds with their parents; and a brood of such 

 probably combined to form a little troop of four which I met with at sunset on the occasion above mentioned. 

 At this period of the clay it exhibits the restless habits of the Thrush family by coming into the open and giving 

 vent to its vocal powers, combined with a boldness apparently foreign to its nature ; for the male which I procured 

 at Hakgala sat whistling for some moments in an exposed tree by the roadside, and allowed me to dismount 

 from my pony and shoot it ! During the few minutes to which my observations were confined, the rest of the 

 " family " flew hither and thither across the road, uttering a high sibilant whistle. It would likewise appear 

 to wander occasionally from the shelter of the forest ; for my friend Mr. Forbes Laurie tells me of one which 

 he discovered beneath an umbrageous tree at the outskirts of a plantation, and which, when approached, took 

 refuge under a coffee-bush, running in and out beneath the branches, and refused to depart until bis coolies 

 endeavoured to capture it by throwing a blanket over the shrub. Its food consists of various insects, Coleo- 

 ptera, &c. ; and in the stomach of my specimen I detected the bones of a frog, probably of the tree-frequenting 

 genus (Po/i/pedatcs) . Mr. Holdsworth killed his specimen on the low branch of a tree near a mountain- 

 stream. 



