PYCTORHIS NASALIS. 



(THE BLACK-BILLED BABBLER.) 



(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Chrysomma sinensis, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 150. no. 860, spec, c (1849) ; Kelaart 

 & Layard, Prodromus, App. p. 58 (1853) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. 

 p. 272. 



Ptjctorhis sinensis, Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 15 (1863, in pt.) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 448 ; 

 Legge, Ibis, 1S75, p. 290. 



Pyctorhis nasalis, Legge, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1879, iii. p. 169. 



Batitchia, Sinhalese. 



Similis P. sinensi, sed saturatior, et remigibus baud rufo marginatis, supercilio albo longiore et naribus nigris nee flavis 

 distinguenda. 



Adult iiude and female. Length 6-2 to 7'0 inches, average about 6 - 5 ; wing 2-5 to 2 - 85 ; tail variable, extreme length 

 about 3"5, centre feathers l - 25 longer than the outermost; tarsus 0-95 to 1-1 ; middle toe with its claw 0-85 ; 

 bill to gape 065 to - 7. The average length of wing is 2*0 ; the limit above given relates to an exceptionally 

 large specimen shot in Uva. 



Iris golden yellow ; eyelid chrome-yellow ; loral skin, which is perceptible through the feathers, greenish yellow ; bill 

 and nostril black ; legs and feet dull yellow, extremities of toes dusky ; claws dusky horn-colour. 



\ Imve ruddy earth-brown, the head darker than the hind neck ; wings brown, the primaries at the base only edged out- 

 wardly with ruddy brown, elsewhere with greyish ; wing-coverts concolorous with the bases of the primaries ; tail 

 greyish brown, the feathers edged pale; lores, a conspicuous supercilium, throat, and under surface white ; the 

 flanks, lower parts, and under tail-coverts tinged with buff ; under wing-coverts buff-white, 

 le examples, probably immature birds, are more deeply tinged on the lower parts than others, and some have a 

 brownish spot immediately below the gape. 



A comparison of a series of Pyctorhis stm nsis from various parts of continental India, with a numberof Ceylonese 

 specimens of the species, which has hitherto been united with it, induced me to separate the latter as a subspecies 

 or local race, differing in the absence of both the yellow nostril and the reddish wing-coloration from its Indian 

 congener. Examples from Kamptee, Kattiawar, Behar, Nepal, N.W. Himalayas, and the North-west Provinces 

 have a smaller eye-stripe and the upper surface of a ruddier hue than our bird ; the head, in particular, displays 

 this character; some specimens (Futteghur and Kattiawar) are more sandy than others, and have the rump and 

 tail-feathers markedly pale. A Bhotan-Doars example, however, differs from all others I have seen iu being very 

 dark on the head and back ; in all, the outer webs of the quills, except near the tips, are dull cinnamon-red, and 

 flu' coverts are chestnut-brown, that is, not quite so red as the quills. The nostril membrane is deep yellow, 

 while (hat of the Ceylonese race is as black as the bill ; and this singular character forms, perhaps, the chief 

 distinction between the birds of the two localities. As regards size, the Indian bird appears to measure some- 

 what less in the wing (2-35 to 2-0) and more in the tail (3-3 to 3-7 inches). 

 I have not had the opportunity of extending my examination to specimens from the south of India ; and, in so far as I 

 have not done this, I still consider my determination of the Ceylonese species as peculiar to the island open to 

 correction. It may be that the race inhabiting the extreme south resembles the Ceylonese in coloration more 

 closely than does that from continental India ; but I have not yet seen any peculiarity in the colour of the nostril 

 spoken of by recent observers. Blyth, in the first mention of the Ceylonese race winch he received from Layard, 

 says, " less rufous variety from Ceylon ;" but in this he compares it with specimens from Lower Bengal. 



Distribution. — The Black-billed Babbler is widely distributed throughout the island, particularly as regards 

 the southern half ; but at the same time it is a local bird, being altogether absent from some parts, while it is 

 tolerably common in others. Commencing with the Western Province, it is not uncommon in tbe sedgy 



