716 CHALCOPHAPS INDICA. 



the altitude of Nuwara Eliya, but more particularly during the N.E. monsoon. Mr. Holdsworth says that 

 at the end of the year it frequents the woods at the Sanatarium in great numbers. I am under the impression 

 it inhabits the Horton-Plains jungles at this season; but I did not make a note of it when I was there. 



In the south-east of Ceylon, and likewise in the Eastern Province, wherever the jungle is hot and dry, it 

 confines itself to the forest on the banks of the rivers. In the Trincomalie district and throughout the northern 

 forests it may be met with anywhere ; but it is not so numerous as in the southern part of the island. 



On the mainland the distribution of this Pigeon is for the most part easterly; it is common in the 

 wooded districts of the south, such as Travancore, the Palanis, and the Nilghiri jungles; but it avoids the 

 Deccan, and is not found in the north-west portions of the empire. Neither Mr. Hume nor Captain Butler 

 notice its occurrence in the direction of Sindli. It is said to be abundant in the Dhoon up to 5500 feet, and 

 affects jungle-clad hills in Central and Eastern India up to an elevation of 6000 feet. In his article on the 

 avifauna of Chota Nagpur Mr. Ball says it is a bird of extreme rarity in the province ; he met with it once in 

 a forest in Gangpur, and once in the Rajmehal hills. In his subsequent article on the district extending to 

 the Godaveri he records it from Sambalpur and Orissa on the north of the Mahanadi. In Furreedpore it is 

 rare, and likewise in North-eastern Cachar ; but in Upper Pegu Mr. Oates records it as tolerably common in 

 evergreen forests on the hills. Dr. Armstrong did not meet with it in the Irrawaddy delta; but southward in 

 Tenasserim it is generally distributed throughout the wooded portions of the province up to 1000 feet. In the 

 Andaman and Nicobar Islands it is likewise generally distributed, and very numerous in some localities of the 

 former according to Mr. Davison. It extends down the Malay peninsula to Sumatra and Java, in the forests 

 of both of which islands it is plentiful. Mr. Wallace is of opinion that it may have been introduced into India 

 from the latter island, as communication between the two places has long existed, the Hindoo religion having 

 been established in Java for an unknown period prior to its being subverted by Mahommedanism in the fifteenth 

 century. The fact of the genus being entirely a Malayan one, and this species being the only member of it in 

 India, certainly fosters the belief that it may have been so introduced ; but, on the other hand, it may have made 

 its way across to the Malay peninsula from Sumatra, and thence spread over the tracts it now inhabits on the 

 mainland. It inhabits Borneo throughout, having been procured at Baujcrmassing on the south coast, at 

 Sarawak and other places on the western side, and at Labuan on the north. Thence it extends to the 

 Philippines, where it is not uncommon in Negros and in the most northerly of the group — Luzon. 



It is likewise found in Formosa, and perhaps along the coast of South China, for it has been recorded 

 from Hainan by Swinhoe. Blyth states that M. Mouhot obtained it in Cambodia; and this is quite probable, 

 as it would extend thither through Siam from the Malay peninsula. Eastward of Borneo it has been obtained 

 in Celebes, and southward in Flores and Lombok. 



In Ccram, Borneo, Amboyna, and other Moluccan islands the allied species C. moluccensis, Gray, is found ; 

 but it is probable that the present species may also be obtained in some of these localities. 



Habits. — The " Bronze-wing," which is the handsomest of its family in Ceylon, is rarely seen away from 

 wood; it is entirely a denizen of jungle, and is so often seen on forest-paths and roads, that it is well known 

 to all who travel in the interior. Its swift arrow-like flight, seen to advantage as it darts over one's 

 shoulders on its swift course down some forest-path, its brilliant plumage and upright carriage as it quickly 

 walks hither and thither on the pathway, letting the spectator approach it so closely that its bright red bill 

 and soft eye may easily be seen, and its melodious though deep unpigeon-like coo, all combine to make it one 

 of the most favourite of Ccylonese birds. It is, however, not always so tame; in the early morning, when 

 first commencing to feed, it is the reverse of shy, but when I have seen small parties of three or four feeding 

 at the edges of clearings or paddy-fields in the afternoon they were difficult to approach. It is in its element in 

 bamboo-jungle, and wherever this abounds it is very plentiful and rarely seen out of the woods filled with this 

 undergrowth. In the breeding-season the bamboo-cheenas clothing the hill-sides in Saffragam and the Rayigam 

 and Hewagam Korales resound in the evening with the coo of this Dove. It feeds on seeds, and I have 

 occasionally found bulbous roots in the stomachs of specimens I have shot. 



Layard well describes its habits in the following paragraph : — " Being a bold, fearless bird of great 

 power of wing, it will permit approach to within a few paces, when, with a spring into the air, it will dash onwards 

 a few dozen yards, and again settle; a renewed approach drives it further off a second and a third time, till driven 



