554 - PHYLLOSCOPUS MAGNIROSTRIS. 



the Horton Plains, it was quite as frequent as the last-noticed bird. The first example recorded from Ceylon 

 was shot by myself on the banks of the river in Lindula, in November 1870, and I have never detected it in 

 any collections but my own. It is worthy of note that females are rare in Ceylon. 



Jcrdon writes as follows : — " It appears to be spread, but rare, over India. I obtained it at Ncllore in 

 the cold weather, and it has been procured near Calcutta and in Nepal." Its head-quarters, in the summer, 

 seem to be the sub-Himalayan districts. Mr. Brooks found it in forest in Cashmere, and met with it in 

 numbers in the valley of the Bhagarati river above Mussoori. In the winter it wanders down the eastern side 

 of the Bay of Bengal, and is, according to Mr. Hume, a rare cold-weather visitant to the central portion of 

 the province of Tenasserim. It likewise finds its way to the Andamans, where it was procured by Lieut. 

 YVardlaw Ramsay, and also on Mount Harriet, above Port Blair, during Mr. Hume's expedition to the island 

 in 1873. 



Habits. — This Tree-Warbler frequents the upper branches of trees in jungle and forest, and does not affect 

 the vicinity of human habitations like the last, preferring the retirement of the woods to the shelter of umbra- 

 geous trees in compounds, gardens, and other open places. It likewise does not seem to dwell so much among 

 the leaves and boughs as P. nitidus. On hearing its sweet three-note whistle, which somewhat resembles the 

 note of the Redbreast Flycatcher (C. tickellue), if you look up you will see the little bird, whence it comes 

 flitting from one bare branch to another, peering down for an instant on you, and at the next rapidly darting 

 among the surrounding foliage at some passing insect, and then realighting at some little distance off. These 

 actions are so much like that of a Flycatcher, and its note so unlike the chirrup of the last species, that the first 

 time I procured it under these circumstances I was surprised to find I had killed a Willow- Warbler instead of a 

 Flycatcher. It constantly repeats its note as it moves from tree to tree in search of insects, which form its 

 entire food; and it generally hunts singly, notwithstanding that one of its companions may usually be heard 

 not far off. 



Blyth writes of its song, " My shikaree, who shot it, informed me that it sung prettily ; and on my imitating 

 the well-known note of P. trochilus (the Willow- Wren), he assured me that the song of this bird was quite 

 different." Mr. Brooks, who has paid so much attention to the members of this genus, says that its song is 

 peculiarly shrill and sweet, but is the most melancholy one that could be imagined. He further writes, 

 concerning his observations of the species in the Mussoori district, " I frequently heard its song near 

 Danguli, and again not far from Gangaotri. Also on the road from Sansoo to Kauriagalia, in a rocky wooded 

 glen through which a small stream flowed. The conditions this bird requires are wooded cliffs or very steep 

 rocky banks impracticable for man, and plenty of flowing water below. Above a roaring torrent it is in its 



element; and sings most vigorously It is very shy and of a retiring disposition, and the female is 



rarely seen. But for its song the male also would escape observation." 



