CINNYRIS ZEYLONICUS. 



(CEYLONESE SUN-BIRD.) 



Certhia zeylonica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 188, "Ceylon" (1766). 



Cinnyris zeylonicus (L.), Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 409 ; Shelley, Monogr. Cinnyr. pt. i. 



(1876) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1877, p. 270 ; Fairbank, t. c. p. 398. 

 Nectarinia zeylonica (L.), Jard. Monogr. Sun-birds, pp. 213, 261, pi. 20 (1843) ; Blyth, Cat. 



B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 226 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 174 ; 



Gould, B. of Asia, pt. xix. pi. 4 (1867). 

 Leptocoma zeylonica (L.), Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. 1. Co. ii. p. 740 (1856); Jerdon, 



B. of Ind. i. p. 368; Hume, Nests and Eggs, i. p. 147 (1873) ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, 



p. 396; Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 275. 

 Nectarophila zeylonica (L.), Walden, Ibis, 1870, p. 37; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 434; 



Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 315. 

 Cinnyris zeylonica, Davidson & Wender, Str. Feath. 1878, vii. p. 79. 

 C'eylonese Creeper, Latham ; The Amethyst-ramped HoneysucJcer, Jerdon ; Humming-bird of 



Europeans. 

 Mai sutiJca, lit. " Flower Honey-bird," Sinhalese ; Than-Jcudi, lit. " Honey-feeder," Ceylonese 



Tamils. 



Adult male. Total length 4-1 to 4'5 inches ; wing 2-05 to 2-15 ; tail 1-35 ; tarsus 0-6 ; middle toe and claw 045 to 

 0-48 ; bill from gape across to tip 0-64 to 0-7. Some hill-specimens are more robust than those I have obtained 

 in the low country, but do not measure larger in the bill. 



Iris red and variable in tint from brick-colour to verrnilion ; legs and feet black. 



Head above to the nape, together with the point of wing, brilliant metallic green ; hind neck and its sides, upper back, 

 scapulars, and a band across the chest deep maroon-red, the feathers at the origin of the scapulars metallic bronze ; 

 lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts brilliant amethystine purple ; wings brown, edged, except on the outer 

 primaries, with dull ferruginous red ; tail dull black, the lateral feathers with pale tips ; chin, throat, and cheeks 

 metallic purple-bronze ; beneath, from the maroon pectoral band, priinrose-yellow, paling to white on the flanks 

 and under wing-coverts ; under tail-coverts washed with yellow. 



Some specimens have the green of the head tinted with amethystine (the centre portion of the feather being of this 

 colour), and the amethystine of the rump glossed with brilliant metallic steel-blue ; some specimens, again, have the 

 two outer tail-feathers tipped whiter than others. 



Female. Total length 3'95 inches ; wing 2-0 ; bill, gape to tip (straight) 0-65. 



Iris brick-red, in some as intense as in the male ; bill, legs, and feet blackish brown. 



Upper surface greyish brown, washed with greenish on the back : wings edged with duller rufous than in the male : 



a pale supercilium ; chin and throat greyish white ; breast washed with yellow ; two outer pairs of rectrices tipped 



white. 



Young (nestling : coll. Shelley, India). Bill 4-6 inches across arc to tip ; wing 1-65. 



Head and back olivaceous brown ; a faint light supercilium ; wings plain brown, the secondaries faintly edged with 

 yellowish brown ; longer upper tail-coverts and tail blackish, the outermost feathers smoky white, the nest two 

 tipped with the same colour ; beneath primrose-yellow, tinted with greenish ; the throat albescent. 



Young male. " Similar to the adult female, excepting that it is less ashy above and slightly more olive-brown in colour ; 

 the eyebrows yellowish ; chin, throat, and under tail-coverts sulphur-yellow." (Shelley, Monogr.) 



Obs. I much neglected the collecting of these beautiful birds while in Ceylon, their lovely plumage, as far as I was 

 concerned, generally ensuring their safety ! I therefore procured no very young birds ; but, in addition to the fact 



4d 



