720 CARPOPHAGA yENEA. 



portions of the low country. Proceeding inland from Galle it is first met with beyond Baddegama and in 

 the forest of Kottowe, becoming more numerous towards the Oodogamma and Opate bills, in the higher parts 

 of which, however, it is not so common as in the valleys. Further north, some miles inland, east of Kalatura 

 and Bentota, it becomes plentiful, and continues so all through the Pasdun and lower portions of the Kukul 

 Korale to Saffragam, which is its great stronghold in that part of the island, and in which (above Gillymally) 

 I have traced it to an elevation of about 1500 feet. In the south-east it avoids the scrub-country along the 

 sea-coast, except where it is cleft by the forest-clothed banks of the rivers ; but it is very abundant at the back 

 of this region up to the base of the Uva hills. In- the Friars- Hood group it is common. In the northern half 

 of the island it is pretty evenly distributed throughout the jungle which covers the whole of that part. 1 have 

 met with it in all parts which I have visited, and Mr. Parker has found it in the Madewatchiya and Anarad- 

 hapura districts. Along the rivers in the Seven Korales it is abundant. 



I have never been able to obtain any information concerning this bird being found in the higher jungles ; 

 I have not myself seen it above an altitude of 1500 feet ; and Mr. Bligh has not met with it in the higher 

 regions of the Kandyan zone ; numerous inquiries which I have made have all failed in disclosing any locality 

 in the coffee-districts inhabited by it. I conclude, therefore, when Layard writes that its " great haunt is 

 certainly the mountain-zone/' he refers to the base of the Kandyan hills, and not the upper parts. 



According to Jerdon it is not at all a mountain species in India ; he remarks that he cannot call to mind 

 having seen it as high as 2000 feet, and that it is more abundant at elevations from the level of the sea up to 

 1000 feet. This is exactly the case in Ceylon. " It is only found," he writes, " in forest countries, and is 

 very abundant in the Malabar jungles, in Central India, Midnapore, and the wooded countries to the north- 

 east generally." It appears to avoid the Deccan entirely, passing up to the north-east from the forests of 

 Southern India, and inhabiting the Godaveri valley, Orissa, Jaipur, Singbhum, Maunbhum, Midnapnr, and 

 the Rajmehal hills. It does not appear to extend across to Western India at all. Mr. Blanford says that he 

 did not meet with it in the valleys of the Nerbudda or Taptce ; and Mr. Ball did not meet with it in Western 

 Chota Nagpur even ; further south, however, its range extends up the Godaveri valley to Sironcha and Chanda ; 

 but this appears to be only an isolated branch of extension, and northward of this river its visit to the west 

 would be defined by a line drawn through the Jaipur district to Sambalpur, and thence northwards through 

 eastern Chota Nagpur to the Rajmehal hills. How far it extends through the forests at the base of the 

 Western Ghats towards the north I am unable to say ; but the Rev. Dr. Fairbank did not meet with it about 

 Mahabaleshwar, which proves pretty clearly that is confined to the south. Northward of the Rajmehal 

 hills «e find it in Nepal, and thence eastwards into Caehar, where Mr. Inglis says it is common, breeding during 

 the raius. Southward wc find it in the Arrakan hills, and eastward in Pegu. Mr. Oates records it as common 

 both in the hills and the plains, whence it extends to the sea-coast at the mouths of the Irrawaddy, where 

 Mr. Armstrong tells us it occurs sparingly. In Tenasserim it is generally distributed, according to Messrs. 

 Hume and Davison, throughout the better-wooded portions of the province, but does not ascend the hills. In 

 the Andaman group Air. Davison found it abundant in December; but later on, in April, it had become 

 scarcer, owing, as he suggests, to the then scarcity of wild fruits which abound in December and January. 

 Throughout the Malay peninsula we may conclude that it occurs in suitable places, which brings us to 

 Sumatra, of which island it is an inhabitant, although, with our scanty data concerning the avifauna of this 

 great island, it would be impossible to speak with certainty concerning its distribution there. Both Raffles 

 and Wallace record it, probably from the southern coast ; but Mr. Buxton did not meet with it in Lampong. 

 The latter naturalist and Horsfield notice its occurrence in Java, and in Borneo it has been found in Baujer- 

 massing, Sarawak, and other maritime provinces. From Java eastward it probably extends through all the 

 chain of islands towards Timor, for it has been obtained in Lombok, Sumbawa, and Flores. From Borneo 

 towards the north it ranges into Palawan, and thence through the Philippine group. In Hainan, Swinhoe 

 procured it in the central and western portions of the island. Data are now desirable concerning the vast 

 stretch of country between Burmah and this latter locality, which it doubtless will be found to inhabit. 



Habits. — The " Malm nila goya," the finest Pigeon in Ceylon, is a denizen of wild forest and jungle- 

 clad districts, the fruit-bearing trees of which afford it such ample sustenance that in some parts of the island it 

 abounds to an equal extent with the very numerous Maroon-backed Pigeon presently to be noticed. Though 



