J02 POMATOEHINUS MELANUKUS. 



junction of the white with the brown hue are centred with the former ; quills with the outer webs more olivaceous 

 than the back, and the inner webs blackish brown ; tail blackish brown, edged at the base with the hue of the 

 upper tail-coverts, and deepening to blackish at the extremity ; there are indications of cross rays on the terminal 

 half, which show- plainer beneath : abdomen rusty olivaceous. In some examples the hue of the nape blends imper- 

 ceptibly into that of the hind neck, in others the line of demarcation is plain. 

 ie above is a description of the generality of examples from the Western Province, the south-west corner of the 

 island, the Pasduu-Korale hdls, and the lower parts of the Peak forests, where a ferruginous hue predominates. 

 \- this bird ascends from the low country to the hills and to a cooler and drier climate than exists in the south and 

 west, the rusty hues gradually vanish, giving way to olivaceous tints : and examples from the upper zone, and 

 likewise from the Uva patna-district, are clothed as follows : — Upper parts, flanks, and wings (that is, those parts 

 which in the low country are ferruginous) olivaceous brown, faintly tinged with rusty on the sides of the hind 

 neck and on the rump. The same white-centred feathers on the sides of the chest exist in some hill specimens. 

 Soft parts the same, the legs, perhaps, slightly greener. The most ferruginous birds come from the damp districts 

 of the south, where moist climate and heat are combined ; and the gradation from their plumage to that of hill birds 

 from the upper zone is very perfect, a complete sequence being obtainable on going up through the wilderness of 

 the Peak from the low-lying portion of Saffragam to the Horton Plains. Examples, however, vary in the olivaceous 

 character of the brown tints inter se. It must not be supposed that the greenest birds come from the highest 

 elevations : a specimen from Totapella, 7800 feet, is very strongly tinged with rusty, and so is another from 

 Kandapolla, 6300 feet, while an individual from Banderawella and another from Dumbara are more olivaceous 

 than either. In like manner the ferruginous birds of the Western Province do not vary regularly according to 

 elevation, the most intensely-coloured bird in my collection being from the neighbourhood of Gillymally. Birds 

 from the forests of the north are very similar to Central-Province specimens, not in any way partaking of the 

 rusty character of those from the south-west. 



' ".<". A bird in nest-plumage, shot at Nuwara Eiliya, is very ferruginous above, and likewise on the sides of the 

 chest and flanks : the head and ear-coverts are not so black as in the adult, and the white of the chest is very much 

 contracted, and does not extend so far down upon the breast. The bill is much straighter than in an adult. 



lip' iliiTerence between the Western-Province and the hill race of this bird (if I may use the term) has been the 

 subject <>f some attention. Mr. Holdsworth was almost of opinion that they merited specific distinction; and 

 Lieut. Wardlaw Ramsay, in his synopsis of the genus Ppmatorhinus, published in 'The Ibis,' April 1878, has like- 

 wise made some remarks on the subject, based on an examination of the specimens (probably a small series) in Lord 

 Tweeddale's collection ; he writes that -L the small race which is found at Nuwara Eiliya has the back olive-brown, 

 without being in the least rufescent, whilst the larger race," found in the Western Province, "has a few of the 

 lateral breast- and llauk-feathers partially white or centred white.'" But I have shown that the hill race is not 



taller than the low-country, and that the white-centred feathers exist in both. This latter is, I imagine, merely 

 a transition-feature towards an extended development of the white of the chest. A specimen in my collection 



i white feathers even in the wing-coverts and on the hind neck. The example measured by Lieut. Eamsay from 

 Nuwara Eiliya, with the wing 3*2 inches, must have been a female, which is no smaller than a low-country bird of 

 the same sex. The most pointed difference between the two races lies, perhaps, in the more plainly contrasted 

 black of the head of the up-country bird with the olivaceous of the hind neck. The same variation in the brown 

 tinting of these Babblers is to be found in the case of the smaller relative (Alcippe nigrifrons) of the present bird, 

 and likewise in another bird of the same family {Pellornewm fuseicapillum). The Ceylonese Scimitar-Babbler is 

 allied to the South-Indian species (P. horsfieldi); this latter is larger, with the wing 3 - S to 3*95 ; it is not so 

 black on the forehead, and the upper surface and wings, together with the sides of the breast, are brownish 

 olivaceous ; the white of the chest does not descend further than the upper part of the breast, suddenly narrowing 

 to a point ; the sides of the breast are black. Lieut. Wardlaw Bamsay, in his above-mentioned synopsis of this 

 gi mis, remarks that our bird is intermediate between P- schistieeps and P. montanus of Java. It is not, however, so 

 closely allied to either as to P. horsfieldi. The Javan bird is a different type of Pomatorhinus from ours, being 

 characterized by the sudden contrast between the plumage of the head and back. It has the head and nape dark 

 slate, most intense on the forehead, while the sides and lower part of the hind neck, together with the scapulars, are 

 rich rust-colour; tail dusky brown ; the throat, fore neck, and breast are white, and the flanks concolorous with 

 the back. Examples from Java, in the British Museum, measure 3-4, 3-35, 3-5 in the wing. The Bornean race 

 has been separated by Cabanis, as being smaller than the Javan, and having the secondaries and tail not so 

 rusty-coloured. 1 have examined specimens of this species, and believe it to be only entitled to rank as a local 

 race. One example measures 34o inches in the wing, which exceeds two of the above dimensions of P. montanus. 



