500 GARRULAX CINEREIFRONS. 



and one at Pallabaddoola in the Peak range." I infer, however, that the Doctor first made its acquaintance 

 iu the Central Province, in the damper forest of the western portion of which it is found. I have seen it in 

 the Deltota district and in the Peak forests, and I have no doubt it occurs in Dumbara and many places 

 between Kandy and the Peak range; but being an inhabitant of humid inaccessible jungles, it is less often met 

 with than any of its family. I have not seen it above 3500 feet ; but Kelaart speaks of it as being found at 

 Nuwara Elliya ; but whether it has erroneously found a place in his list of birds from that place I do not know ; 

 suffice it to say that no one else, that I am aware of, has heard of it from so high an elevation, although there 

 is no reason why it should not be found there as well as the Rufous Babbler (Malacocercus rufescens). It 

 inhabits the forests of the southern ranges, and all the heavy jungles from the Kukkul Korale to the Kaluganga. 

 I have procured it in the Singha-Rajah forest, in the Pasdun Korale, and also in the Ikkade-Barawe forest, 

 which is only 18 miles from Colombo ; there are likewise specimens in the British Museum collected by 

 .Mr. Chapman at a place called Dusiwella, which I believe is in the Western Province. It does not appear to 

 inhabit the jungles of the south-eastern portion nor the eastern and northern divisions of the island : the 

 Kurunegala district, as far as is known at this time, forms its northern boundary ; and therefore its distribution 

 is one of the most restricted of any of the peculiar Ceylonese species. 



Habits.- — This Laughing Thrush has a similar disposition to the Wynaad species, loving the gloom and 

 shade of the dampest forests in the island, and delighting in the seclusion afforded by the thick underwood and 

 not unfrequently dense bamboo-thickets with which such localities abound. I once met with it in a dark 

 ravine in the very gloomiest recesses of the lofty timber-jungles of the Kukkul Korale; not the least daunted 

 by the tremendous downpour of rain which was falling at the time, the whole troop were darting hither and 

 thither about the dripping vegetation in search of food, and indulging in their wonted spasmodic cries, as if re- 

 joicing in the brightest sunshine on a pleasant lawn, instead of being imprisoned in the darkest, most dripping, 

 leach-infested glen in Ceylon ! It always associates in scattered troops of ten or twenty, and feeds amongst 

 tangled underwood, in spots which are covered with dead leaves, the product of many years' dropping from the 

 mouarchs of the forest, and delights in exploring the mossy recesses of fallen trunks, in which humid spots it 

 finds an abundance of caterpillars, bugs (Hemiptera), and coleopterous insects. It breaks out constantly into 

 a harsh chattering, which is taken up in turn by all the members of the troop, and as suddenly stopped, when 

 all is silent again, until some trifling alarm sets the garrulous converse loose. This chattering is usually 

 finished up witli a hurried sort of scream. Like the last species, it is very active in its gestures and not at all 

 shy, being very loath to break up its party when fired at, some members of it being occasionally bold enough 

 to fly down to and hop about their fallen comrades with loud cries and vigorous flapping of their wings, while 

 tin rest mount on to the topmost branches of low trees, and jerk themselves to and fro, peering down on their 

 assailant, and executing a series of spasmodic antics. It shuns the society of other birds, appearing to affect 

 s | nits so gloomy and damp as to be avoided by all species, except, perhaps, the Rufous Babbler and the little 

 Quaker-Thrush ; and in these sylvan retreats it would no doubt often be passed over unnoticed, were it not for 

 its garrulous habit, which is usually provoked when it hears the approach of danger. The stomach of this 

 bird is very muscular, and I have often found it contain a quantity of foul black liquid. 



Nidification. — The breeding-season of this bird is from April till July. Full-fledged nestlings may be 

 found abroad with the parent birds in August; and from this I base my supposition, for I have never found 

 the nest myself. Intelligent native woodmen, in the western forests, who are well acquainted with the bird, 

 have informed me that it nests iu April, building a large cup-shaped nest in the fork of a bush-branch, and 

 laying three or four dark blue eggs. Whether this account be correct or not, future investigation mast 

 determine. 



The lower figure in the Plate accompanying the next article represents a female of this species, shot in the 

 Ikkade-Barawe forest. 



