ELAPHRORNIS PALLISEEI. 515 



invariable colour being bug. As the iris in the male turns from buff to red, and that of the female from white to 

 buff, the inference is that, in the end, the latter may possibly become as dark as that of the male. 

 Chin dusky greyish, the centres of the feathers whitish, and a slight wash of buff across the centre of the throat ; 

 breast and underparts more greenish than in the adult, the chest being devoid of the slaty hue. 



Obs. This curious bird is quite a Timaline species, both as regards its habits and its external structure. Its wings and 

 legs are essentially those of the present family, and the texture of its plumage is not unlike that of Pomatorhinus, 

 although it is considerably more lax. It has, however, its abnormal characteristics, such as its slender bill and its highly 

 developed nuchal hair-like plumes, which ally it to the Drymoecinse. These plumes possess the remarkable structure 

 of dividing at the tip into three or four branches, each of which is furnished with a scanty web ; it likewise differs 

 from most of the Timaliinas in its non-gregarious propensity, resembling also, in this respect, the Drymceemje. 

 Notwithstanding, it seems to me to take a better station among the Babblers, to which its active habits, wing- and 

 tail-structure ally it, than among the "Wren- Warblers ; and I accordingly place it at the end of the Timaliina;. 



It was placed by Blyth in the genus Brachypteryx, which is located by Jerdon and others among the Thrushes in the 

 subfamily Myiotherina3. With the exception of the short wing, it does not appear to have any thing in common 

 with this genus, one of the principal characters of which is the very short tail, much exceeded by the wing in all 

 the species I have examined. In some, such as Brachypteryx poliogenys, Wallace, the tail falls short of the wing 

 by the length of the tarsus, whereas in the present bird the tail considerably exceeds the wing, and the gape is 

 bristled and not smooth. I have accordingly founded for its reception the genus Elaphromis, which title I conceive 

 to be not inappropriate, owing to its active manners. 



Distribution. — This singular and little-kncnvn bird was discovered by Kelaart, who suggested its present 

 specific name in honour of a friend, Mr. Palliser of Dimbulla ; he procured it at Nuwara Eliya and Dimbulla. 

 But few naturalists have met with it, owing to its propensity for inhabiting dense thickets in thick jungle. It 

 is confined to the upper hills and higher ranges in the outlying districts, in all of which it is found above an 

 elevation of about 5000 feet. It is a common bird in all the forests of the main range, from False Pedro to 

 the Horton Plains, and thence along the Peak forest to Maskeliya. It is found on Namooni-kuli mountain 

 and on the Haputale hills. Mr. Bligh, however, writes me that for the past three years he has not met with it 

 in the higher jungles of this district, in which it used formerly to be common during the autumn months. 

 Eor my own part I do not believe much in its moving about ; it may be more silent at one time than another, 

 and consequently may chance to be overlooked, for it shows itself but little, except during the early morning, 

 and an acquaintance with its singular note is requisite to a knowledge of its whereabouts. It is, perhaps, 

 more numerous on the Horton Plains than any other part of the Nuwara-Elliya plateau; the woods there are 

 overgrown with elephant-grass {Arundinaria debilis?), its favourite haunt, and in this it dwells securely. It 

 must be looked for in the upper jungles of the Knuckles range : when I visited them I was unacquainted with 

 its note, and consequently it found no place in my catalogue of the birds of that district ; but the conditions 

 of climate and vegetation are similar there to those of other parts. 



Habits. — This Ant-Thrush dwells entirely in the damp close underwood with which the upper Ceylon 

 forests are overgrown; it delights in the nilloo-scrub and the densely matted "elephant-grass," which I 

 have just referred to, both of which form the chief part of the undergrowth in the Nuwara-Elliya 

 district : equally favourite haunts, however, are the numberless little nullahs leading to the mountain- 

 streams, and which are generally blocked up with fallen timber of all sizes, and a tangled mass of dead nilloo- 

 sticks, thorns, decaying boughs, and such like ; and here this little retiring bird passes a quiet though active 

 existence, nimbly searching about the mossy trunks, quickly hopping and running along the ground beneath 

 the tangled thickets, through which it threads its way with astonishing rapidity, or darting about the bases of 

 standing trees in the pursuit of ants and other minute insects. It likewise partakes, to some extent, of small 

 seeds, some of which I have occasionally found in its stomach. To the ordinary observer, therefore, it is likely, 

 with such habits, always to remain a stranger ; but those to whom its insect-like note, which sounds like 

 the syllable " quitze," sharply uttered at moderate intervals, is familiar may frequently detect it in the vicinity of 

 forest-paths, at the sides of which it often appears for a moment, quickly darting across and clinging to the 

 upright trunk of a tree, while it utters a rapid little warble, and then darts into the surrounding vegetation. 



As with other birds in Ceylon which are denizens of thick jungle, I find that scarcely any Europeans are 



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