PHYLLOENIS JEEDONI. 



(THE GREEN BULBUL.) 



Phyllomis jerdoni, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1843, xii. p. 392 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 212 



(1849) ; Kelaart & Layard, Cat. Ceylon B. Prodromus, App. p. 57 (1853) ; Layard, Ann. 



& Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 176 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 97 (1863) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 



1872, p. 451 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, ii. p. 294 (1874) ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 410. 

 Chloropsis jerdoni, Jerd. 111. Ind. Orn. pi. 43 (1847). 



Chloropsis cochinsinensis, Jerd. Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1839, x. p. 247. 

 Blue-chinned Thrush, Lath. Hist. v. p. 93 ; Leaf-bird of some ; Common Green Bulbul, Jerdon. 



Harreiva, Hind. ; Wanna bojanum, lit. " Ornament of the forest," Telugu (Jerdon) ; 



Hurrooa in Manbhoom. 

 Giraiv-kurulla, Sinhalese. 



Adult male and female. Length 7*3 to 7 - 5 inches ; wing 3 - 3 to 3-5 ; tail 2-8 ; tarsus 0-75 ; mid toe and claw 0-7 ; 

 hind toe, from sole, "35 ; bill to gape 0-95. The 3rd quill is shorter in proportion to the 4th than in the next 

 species. 



Iris brown or pale brown ; bill, upper and lower mandibles blackish ; legs and feet pale bluish, milky blue, or pale 

 lavender. 



Above and beneath, including the wings and tail, grass-green ; lores, cheeks, chin, and throat glossy black, enclosing 

 a shining hyacinth-blue cheek-stripe ; the forehead, above the eye, and all round the black gorget washed with 

 yellowish, showing plainest in well-plumaged birds ; a brilliant turquoise-blue patch on the ulna, and a trace of the 

 same at the metacarpal joint (in some specimens the median wing-coverts are edged with blue) ; inner webs of 

 quills brown, those of the secondaries washed with green near the tip ; under surface of tail greenish grey. 



Female. Has a small throat-patch and the lores bluish green instead of black, and the cheek-stripe greenish blue ; the 

 wing-patch is less in extent, and the yellowish border round the throat generally more pronounced than in the male. 



Obs. A comparison of Ceylonese specimens with South-Indian and peninsular examples enables me to say that our 

 birds do not differ from continental ones. The following are the data from several examined : — Madras — tf , 

 wing 3'45 ; Travancore — <$ , wing 3*5, bill to gape 0-85 ; Behar — d , wing 3"6, bill to gape - 95 ; Bengal — $ , 

 wing 3-4, bill to gape 0-85. Mr. Ball gives the wing-dimensions of four examples from the Chota-Nagpur district 

 as 3 - 4 to 3"5 inches ; from which results it appears that the example from Behar is longer in the wing and bill 

 than those from other localities. The head and throat are similar in coloration ; but a specimen from Madras 

 exhibits an abnormal feature in having the black throat mingled with greenish-blue feathers : and the moustachial 

 stripe is paler than in ordinary birds. 



There are several other species of Phyllomis inhabiting the regions to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal ; among 

 these P. cyanopogon of Malacca is not very distantly related to the present. It is larger (wing 4-0), has more 

 black on the throat and face, wants the yellowish bordering, and has a very narrow cheek-stripe. 



Distribution. — The Green Bulbul is a very common bird in Ceylon, and diffused throughout all the low 

 country, except those parts which are covered with scrubby vegetation, such as the oft-mentioned jungle-plains 

 on the south-east coast, and similar localities on both sides of the north of the island. It is particularly 

 numerous in the cultivated portions of the western and southern provinces, and ascends the hills of the latter 

 region, as well as those of the Kandyan district, to a considerable altitude. I have met with it in the Morowak- 

 Korale coffee-estates and in the central ranges up to 3500 feet, and in Uva it may possibly be found at a 

 greater elevation. It occurs in open places, and especially on the borders of cultivation, throughout the 

 northern half of the island, the edges of the luxuriant jungle surrounding the great tanks being a favourite 

 locality. In the vicinity of Trincomalie I found it on the borders of paddy-fields and in isolated clumps of 



