578 PACHYG-LOSSA VINCENS. 



P. melanoxantha (figured in 'The Ibis,' 1874, pi. 1) is a rare species and larger than P. vincens, measuring in the wing 

 2*80 inches : the proportion of the quills differs slightly from that of the Ceylonese bird, the 1st quill being 

 slightly shorter. The coloration is much the same as regards its distribution ; but the sides of the throat are blackish 

 slate, contracting the white into a broad stripe ; the under tail-coverts also are yellow, like the breast and abdomen. 



Distribution. — When this little bird was brought to the notice of the scientific world by Dr. Sclater in 

 the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society' in 1872, the credit of its discovery was given to myself, as the 

 specimens which I had sent him from the south of Ceylon were considered to be the first ever procured. 

 Mr. Hugh Cuming, however, a well-known collector of Ceylonese birds, had, as noticed by Mr. Holdsworth 

 in 'The Ibis ' for 1874, brought home a male of this species, which was, I conclude, overlooked among the 

 skins acquired from him by the British Museum, and was not identified until after its rediscovery by myself 

 nearly thirty years afterwards. I am glad, therefore, to be able to give the true history of its discovery to 

 my Ceylon readers, and ensure the credit of it being given to Mr. Cuming. 



It is, as far as we know, essentially a bird of the heavy rainfall districts. My first specimens were 

 procured in 1871 in the Kottowe forest near Galle, where it is abundant. I subsequently found it in other 

 jungles adjacent to this one, in the fine timber-reserves near Oodogamma, on the south bank of the Gindurah, 

 and in the Kukkul Korale, more particularly in the Singha-Rajah or Lion-king forest. Thence northward its 

 range extends into Saffragam, where I obtained it in the Kuruwitc Korale, in the lower Peak jungles, and 

 saw it even as far north as Avisawella. Mr. Bligh shot, in 1873, a fair number of specimens in Kotmalie, 

 to which district, lying at the base of the western slopes of the main range, it must extend through Maskeliya 

 and Dimbulla, in both of which valleys it will doubtless some day be found. Its habitat is, I suspect, limited 

 to the damp forest region, consisting of the south-west of the island, the southern coffee-districts, Saffragam, 

 and the western portion of the Central Province as above indicated. It may perhaps be found in Uva, but 

 will not, I should say, extend into the low country of the Eastern Province. 



Hot/its. — I subjoin here the following extract from my notes on this Flowerpecker contained in the 

 Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Asiatic Society for 1873: — "It dwells exclusively in high jungle (the 

 ' Mukalaney ' of the Sinhalese), and affects the leaves and smaller branches of moderately sized trees, but 

 more particularly the luxurious creeper Freycinetia anyustifolia, a species of Pandaaus, which grows so 

 plentifully in the southern forests, entwining and clothing the stately trunks so completely that they have, 

 in the distance, the appearance of ivy-clad columns. It associates in small flocks, which, when this plant 

 is in fruit, may be seen feeding on its seeds. Its movements are most active, now hovering for an instant 

 over a flower, now clinging 'tit-like' to the underside of some chosen sprig. . . . Although it usually 

 takes but short flights in the jungle, from tree to tree, its powers of locomotion are considerable, and at times 

 it may be seen darting across openings in the forest from one belt to another. Its note is a weak tze-tze-tze, 

 somewhat resembling that of the Long-tailed Tit of Europe (Acredula caudata), and which is scarcely audible 

 on a stormy day amidst the soughing of the wind through the forest trees. It is generally uttered in concert 

 by the flock when searching together for food." I observed that in the Singha-Rajah forest it frequented 

 the flowers of the Bowittiya plant {Osbeckia virgata), but whether in search of insects or not I was unable to 

 ascertain. The stomachs of nearly all the specimens I have procured contained succulent matter, evidently 

 extracted from fruit and seeds; and I therefore suspect that it is almost entirely frugivorous. It does not 

 always confine itself to low situations in the forests, for I have met with it in flocks frequenting the tops of 

 the loftiest trees in the Oodogamma timber-jungles. 



The breeding-season, I imagine, must be during the south-west monsoon, for the organs of examples 

 killed in both June and August testified to their nidification being carried on during that period. It is 

 probable that this bird builds somewhat similarly to its Nepalese congener, which, says Hodgson, "makes an 

 ingenious pendulous nest." 



The figures in the Plate accompanying this article are those of a male and female from the southern 

 forests. 



