EULABES PTILOGENYS. 



(THE CEYLON MYNA.) 

 (Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Gracula ptilogenys, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1846, xv. p. 285; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 108 

 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 125 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1854, xiii. p. 216. 



Eulabes ptilogenys, Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 299; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 463; Legge, Ibis, 

 1874, p. 25. 



Dr. Tem/pletori 's Myna, Kelaart; The Black Myna in the planting districts. 



Mal-kawada, Sinhalese, Saffragam ; Selalalieniya of the Kandyans. 



Ad. supra viridescenti-niger, purpureo varius : pileo et facie laterali velutinis nigris : corpore subtus toto virideseenti- 

 nigro, pectore magis purpuraacente : alis eaudaque nigris viridi vel purpureo extus lavatis, primariis 2°-7 mum 

 albo notatis fasciam alarem conspicuam formantibus, primario secundo intiis tautum uotato : rostro aurantiaco, 

 ad basin nigro : pedibus pallide flavis : iride alba : carimculis flavis. 



Adult male and female. Lengtb 10'75 to 11-1 inches ; wing 5-9 to 6-25; tail 2-5 to 3'0 ; tarsus 1*3 to 1*4; middle 

 toe 1-1, its claw (straight) - 4 ; bill to gape 1-6. Lappets 0-9 inch in length, 0-7 in breadth, springing from each 

 side of the nape, and meeting at the base in old birds. 



Iris (male) greyish white, dappled with brown, (female) white or yellowish white ; bill orange-red, with the upper 

 mandible black from gape to nostril, and the lower for nearly half its length ; legs and feet gamboge-yellow ; 

 claws blackish ; lappets rich yellow. 



Entire plumage glossy black, with strong metallic reflections of purple on the head, hind neck, upper back, breast, and 

 thighs, and of greenish bronze on the back, wings, and belly ; across the wiug a white bar, extending from the inner 

 web of the 2nd to the outer web of the 7th quill, and in some specimens only to the 6th. 



Young. Birds of the year have the iris quite brown ; bill with more black about the base, and not so long as in the 

 adult ; lappets smaller and widely separate at the base ; lower parts faintly edged with greyish. In this stage 

 they breed. 



Obs. I record the colour of the iris in the adult female as white because I have found it so in all specimens I have 

 shot ; I believe Mr. Bligh has observed the same to be the case. "Whether the eye of the male becomes white with 

 age I am unable to say ; I have always found greyish or brown tints in it, and thev are usually in the form of 

 dots or stipplings. The fact of the eye in the young bird being brown augurs strongly in favour of a change 

 eventually to the same colour in both sexes ; and it may be that I have not succeeded in getting a fully-aged male. 

 The subject is worthy of consideration at the hands of my readers. 



Distribution. — The Ceylon Myna is chiefly confined to the mountains of the Kandyan Province, the 

 southern ranges, and the subsidiary high forests on the south bank of the Gindurah and the northern portions 

 of the Kukul Korale which are continuous with the Singha-Rajah or " Lion-King " forest. On the eastern 

 and southern slopes of the central zone I have never found it below 1500 feet ; but this is by no means the 

 case as regards the western slopes lying between Maskeliya and Pelmadulla, through the continuous forests 

 of which it descends into the low country, and spreads over the Three Korales, as well as the Kuruwite and 

 perhaps the adjoining borders of the Rayigam Korales, wherever there is tall forest. It is tolerably common 

 about xlvisawella, whi8k is nearly on the level of the sea; and in that neighbourhood I have procured it as far 

 seawards as the twenty-eighth mile-post from Colombo. Mr. C. Byrde, of the Ceylon Civil Service, informs 

 me that it breeds yearly at Avisawella; and I found it nesting myself in the timber-forests of Mr. Charles 

 de Soyza's estate, Kuruwite. In the main range and on the Nuwara-Eliya plateau it is more abundaut in 

 the cool season than at other times ; but it does not appear ever to cross the Totapella range to the upland 

 of Horton Plains, as I nowhere observed it in the mossy forests of that region. 



