*M 



DIC.EUM MINIMUM. 575 



dusky wash on the sides of the chest, and becoming flavescent on the centre of the breast and belly flank* 

 cinereous. • ' 



In some examples the secondaries are edged with olivaceous. 



Young. Iris darker brown than in the adult, with a slaty outer circle ; upper mandible tinged, with yellowish, and its 

 margin, together with the under mandible, yellowish. 



Above more olivaceous than old birds ; quills and wing-coverts edged greenish ; throat and fore neck duskier than in 

 adults. 



Obs. I have not been able to compare Ceylonese examples with many from the mainland. A specimen in the national 

 collection, marked » India," measures 1-95 inch in the wing, and 0-41 from gape of bill to tip. It is somewlnt 

 more olive-coloured on the back and rump than my specimens, but corresponds otherwise with them. 



An allied species to this is D. concolor from South India, an inhabitant of the Nilghiris and other peninsular ranges. 

 It is larger than D. minimum, and is, according to Jerdon, more albescent beneath. Dr. Fairbank remarks that it 

 frequents a parasitical Loranthus which grows on the Australian Blackwood {Acacia melanoxijlon), and gives the 

 measurements of a female as follows :— Length 3-6, wing 2-1, tail 1-0, tarsus 0-55, bill from gape 0-5. This species 

 might possibly occur in Ceylon. These Flowerpeckers are seldom shot, and it may have been passed over. 



I should perhaps likewise notice another species described of late years from the Andamans, belonging to the subgroup 

 containing the two species already referred to here. This is D. virescens, Hume (Str. Feath. 1873, p. 482). It 

 " differs from D. minimum in its somewhat longer bill, which is very differently coloured, in the much greener 

 hue of the upper surface, and in the olive-yellow tinge of the rump, upper tail-coverts, and abdomen. It is 

 considerably smaller than D. concolor, is of a purer and lighter olive-green, and differs from that, as from 

 D. minimum, in the rump and upper tail-coverts. Length 3-1 to 3-4 inches, win" 1-75 to 1-85." 



Distribution. — This tiny bird is very numerous in Ceylon, and inhabits the whole island, irrespective of 

 climate or elevation. It seems as much at home in the damp cool jungles of the Horton Plains as in the hot 

 forests of the Northern Province or the warm humid " Mukalaney " of the south. It is found as plentifully 

 near the sea as in the interior, and is very common in the cinnamon-gardens of Colombo. 



It occurs, according to Jerdon, "throughout lower Bengal and the jungles of Central India, extending- 

 to the Himalayas, Assam, and Arakan. Blyth observed it in extreme abundance in the hill-jungles about 

 Moulmein. It is also found, though rarely, in Southern India, being there replaced by D. concolor." 



As it is so abundant in Ceylon, it is strange that it should be rare in the adjoining part of the mainland ; 

 but in this respect it, after all, only forms one of the many curious instances of the affinity of the avifaunas of 

 Ceylon and Northern India. The Rev. Dr. Fairbank found it common on the western slopes of the Sahyadris, 

 and near Bombay and Poona it is, according to Mr. B. Aitken, very numerous. Mr. Ball remarks that it is 

 found in Sal-jungle in most parts of Chota Nagpur, though it is not very common anywhere. Captain 

 Beavan recorded it as plentiful near Maunbhoom in the breeding-season. 



Habits. — This Flowerpecker, which is the smallest of Ceylon birds, frequents the parasitic plants 

 (Loranthus ?) which grow on various trees throughout the island, none of which are so infested with this 

 singular vegetable growth as the Cadju (Sarcoclinium longifolium) . It may consequently always be met with 

 where there are many of these trees, about the leaves and smaller branches of which it flits when it is not 

 gorging itself on the berries of the parasite. In the forests it affects the various creepers, some of them of the 

 Pandanus tribe, which entwine the trunks of large trees. It is usually a solitary bird; I have sometimes seen 

 more than two in the same tree, but such is an exception to the rule. It is very active, springing from branch 

 to branch of the thick bunches of parasitic plants, and then darting off to another tree with a quick dipping 

 flight, uttering its sharp little monosyllabic chirp while on the wing. It appears, from personal observation, 

 to be entirely frugivorous ; and feeding so gluttonously on its favourite berries, it becomes stupefied to such 

 an extent that it may sometimes be almost taken with the hand before flying off. Its bill is generally stained 

 with the juice of some sort of berry or fruit whenever it is shot ; and I have never detected any trace of insect- 

 food in the crop of those I have procured. It is, however, said by Indian writers to be insectivorous ; for 

 Beavan writes (loc.cit.), "It has a weak piping note, and is met with in heavy jungle, in thick trees, busily 

 engaged seeking amongst the leaves for insects*' 



