580 PIPRISOMA AGILE. 



the sides of the chest and breast with dull olivaceous mesial stripes to the feathers ; flanks olivaceous; bases of 

 the under tail-coverts dark. 

 Some examples are less conspicuously striated beneath than others ; and one from the Uva district is greener than 

 those from the Northern Province. 



Young male. "Length 3-9 inches ; wing 2-2 : tail 1*1; bill at front 0-3. Iris differing from that of the adult, 

 yellowish brown, darkest near the pupil, and without the bright 'thread' or circle round it ; bill brownish horny, 

 tip of upper mandible black, lower mandible paler ; legs and feet dark leaden " (Parker, in epist.). Described as 

 being like the adult : the orbital rim of feathers " dull white, and the outermost tail-feathers much paler than the 

 rest : the forehead with indications of strife." 



In a young female the terminal white spots on the lateral tail-feathers are almost absent. 



Obs. In his paper on Ceylon birds (Str. Feath. 1873, p. 434) Mr. Hume calls attention to certain characteristics of 

 Ceylon examples of this species, concerning which he remarks that " they have a much more decided green cast 

 on the upper surface, especially on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; they are slightly smaller, and the bills are a 

 little shorter and somewhat less compressed towards the poiut." I have carefully noted these remarks and 

 endeavoured to get together as large a series as possible for comparison ; but skins of this little bird are by no 

 means plentiful. I have examined four skins in the British Museum, two of which are from the North-west 

 Himalayas, six of Mr. Ball's, and- one of Mr. Elwes. The latter is from Saugor, Central Province, and Mr. Ball's 

 skins are from Sambalpur, Satpura, and Talchin. The comparison of this small series with four Ceylon specimens 

 tends to show that low-country Ceylon birds are smaller than Indian; but a hill example almost equals a 

 Himalayan one. Two from this latter locality measure 2-1 and 2-45 inches. A Logole-oya (Uva) specimen 

 measures 2-4. Sambalpur examples are as follows : — 2 , wing 2-29 ; $ > wing 2-38 ; $ , wing 2-3 ; tf, wing 2-4 ; 

 Satpura, d, wing 2'3 : Talchin, d , wing 2-4. In all these the wiug is slightly more pointed than in the 

 Ceylonese bird, the 1st quill usually almost equalling the 2nd, and in the others being a trifle shorter than it; 

 in the Satpura specimen it is about ^ |T inch less than the 2nd. The Ceylon specimens all vary in this respect, 

 this feather in two falling short of the 2nd by nearly -jig-. Were there, therefore, no variation in the continental 

 birds our race might stand as a subspecies. "With regard to the colour, the green of the Indian birds on the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts is of a more yellow tinge than in the island rare, which is characterized by its more olive 

 tint. Newly moulted specimens are much brighter than birds in old feather. Males are greyer than females on 

 the head. These several differences would appear on paper to have some weight ; but on laying the two series of 

 skins side by side 1 have been unable t" separate them, the Ceylonese birds merely differing in that slight manner 

 which one experts in such a small bird isolated somewhat from its fellows of the mainland. 



Distribution. — This curious little bird, as far as it has yet been observed, seems to inhabit principally the 

 midland portion of the northern forest tract. Layard obtained it on the Central road, and Mr. Parker, from 

 whom I have received specimens, informs me that it is not uncommon at Madewatcliiya and about Anarad- 

 japura, and he has lately procured it at Uswcwa in the month of July. I met with it in Uva, and obtained 

 a specimen on the Logole ova at about 3000 feet elevation. It occurs, I believe, in the Kandy district, and 

 would therefore appear to be scattered sparingly over a considerable portion of the island. 



■Union writes of this bird, " It is found over the greater part of India, from the Himalayas to the Malabar 



coast most commonly in jungle-districts ; but it is also seen occasionally in groves of trees in bare 



country. I have procured it at Goomsoor, on the Eastern Ghats, in Malabar, and the Deccan. Blyth obtained 

 it in the Midnaporc jungles." Captain Bcavan remarks, "This bird cannot be considered common in Maun- 

 bhoom, although it is certainly tolerably abundant during the breeding-season." In Kumaon it was observed 

 by Mr. Thompson, who spoke of it also as breeding at Ramnuggur, which is on the borders of the sub- 

 Himalayan range. 



Habits. — The Thick-billed Flowerpecker frequents the tops of trees in forest, searching about among leaves 

 and small boughs for insects, after the manner of Dicceum. It is generally, according to my experience, solitary ; 

 but Mr. Parker shot one out of a troop of four or five in the Uswewa district. It feeds on spiders and minute 

 insects; in Uva I noticed it frequenting small umbrageous trees overhanging a rocky stream in a glen. 

 Jerdon remarks that it has a weak piping note and associates in small flocks ; but Capt. Beavan testifies to the 

 i 'iitrary, saying that he observed it alone, and says that its dull colours prevent its being seen. " Its note," 



