1122 DISSURA EPISCOPA. 



in adults, the plumage being old and abraded, showing that the head is the last to change; there are some brown 

 Eeathers on the rump, which are evidently the remains of the first winter's dress. 



06s. The African bird is, according to writers, smaller than the Asiatic, as will be seen by Von Heuglin's measure- 

 ments, which are given as — length 29-5 inches, wing 10-5 to 17'5, tarsus 5-18 to 5"75, bill at front 4*68 to 5 - 33 ; 

 Layard, however, gives the wing of South-African examples as 18-5. In addition to this alleged inferiority in size, 

 the webs of the four outer tail-feathers are black, shining, coppery, according to Layard ; and if this is the plumage 

 of the adult bird, it will require separation from the Asiatic. 



Another species found in India is the Black Stork, Gkonia (Melanopelargus) nigra, Linn., which is entirely black, save 

 the lower breast and abdomen, which are white. The black plumage is illumined with violet and green reflections. 

 Length 40-0 inches, wing 20 - to 23-0, tarsus 7-5 to 8-0, bill to gape 7 - 8. Iris dark brown ; bill dark red ; legs 

 and feet dull red ; orbital skin red. This species has occurred as a visitor in the Deccan, and may possibly 

 stray as far south as Ceylon. 



Distribution. — This handsome Stork is infinitely more numerous than the last two species, being in some 

 parts of the island quite a common bird. It is a resident species, and confined to the northern, eastern, and 

 south-eastern divisions of the island. These birds are liable to be found at any secluded tank in the heart of 

 the forest, and still more so at wild jungle-begirt salt lagoons not far from the sea-shore. South of the Virgel 

 I met with large flocks in October 1875 about salt marshes bordering creeks that ran inland some distance from 

 the shore. In the interior I have seen them at Kanthelai, Minery, Hurulle, Kalpe, and other tanks ; and in 

 the Central Province I once met with a flock near Bibile on some elevated patuas. In the Wellaway Korale 

 it is not uncommon ; and Mr. Bligh recently met with it near Yala. Mr. Parker records it from the Uswcwa 

 and Nikaweratiya districts, as also from Anaradhapura. Mr. Holdsworth did not meet with it near Aripu ; 

 but in the island of Manaar Mr. Simpson tells me it is often seen. I have no record of its occurrence in the 

 Western Province or in the south-west of the island. 



It is a common bird in India, more especially, says Jerdon, in well-watered districts. It is plentiful, 

 however, in portions of the Deccan, breeding in the Sholapoor and Satara districts ; throughout Chota Nagpur 

 it is, says Mr. Ball, abundant, and is recorded by him from the Rajmehal hills, Manbhum, Lohardugga, Orissa, 

 Nowagarh, and Karial ; from Raipur likewise Mr. Hume notes it. About Calcutta it is occasionally seen, 

 and in Furrecdpore is common during the rains. Further north it is found along the base of the Himalayas, 

 being common in the valley of Nepal from May till December, in the Nawakot district in November, and in 

 the Terai in December [Scully). Going westward now through the North-west Provinces, where it must needs 

 occur, we find it somewhat localized in the direction of the Indus. Mr. Adam notices it as a visitor in the rains 

 to the Sambhur-Lake district ; and Captain Butler says it is tolerably common in the plains of Guzerat, and 

 also found at the lake at Mt. Aboo ; but Mr. Hume has not seen it in Kutch, Kattiawar, or Siudh, nor has 

 he heard of it from any other part of Jodhpore but the Sambhur Lake. It is not entered in Mr. Doig's 

 list of birds breeding in the Eastern Narra, and it is therefore probable that it does not occur anywhere in 

 Lower Sindh. Leaving India proper we find it spoken of as resorting in flocks to the plains of Pegu during 

 the rains, and also found there in the cold weather. In the province of Tenasserim it is " sparingly distributed 

 in suitable localities throughout the central and southern portions of the province." Mr. Davison has met 

 with it at Amherst, Tavoy, and on the Pakchan. Southward it is found in the Malay countries, and extends 

 to Sumatra and Java, thence to Borneo (from where Salvadori records it, and where Mr. Treacher has recently 

 procured it on the Lawas river), and finally to Celebes, concerning which Dr. Meyer writes : — "Not rare in 

 the (iulf of Tomini, but rarely goes as far north as Kema, where I got one specimen in May; another one I 

 procured at the lake of Limbotto in July, and one on the Togian Islands in August." 



Habits. — The White-necked Stork is partial to dry spots in the vicinity of water ; for though it frequently 

 affects the edges of tanks and rivers at times, it is more often seen in the dried-up beds of the same, or on 

 grassy plains near salt lagoons or estuaries of rivers. In the hot season there are numbers of moderately-sized 

 tanks in the forests of the north and east from which the water has almost entirely evaporated, leaving a rushy 

 plain with here and there a few bare places, and near the outlet a muddy pond alive with fish and frogs ; it is 

 in such situations that the Parson bird is often found, walking staidly about the bare stretches of baked mud, 



