90 
4000 feet in the Knuckles ranges, Kotmalie, Dickoya, Uda Pusselawa, Uva, and Haputale. Іп some 
numbers between the Elephant Plains and Kandapolla, Mr. Watson 
ds near Ragalla. In November and 
ardens, to which it is attracted, with many 
s, in search of the insectivorous food harboured in the bare soil beneath the conifers and 
spot abounds. І have no doubt that it finds its way, in 
small numbers, into all the forests of the main range.” The species appears to stay in Ceylon as 
late as May, as the type of 0. pectoralis of Legge was obtained on the 18th of that month. The 
voice of this bird, as described by Mr. W. E. Brooks, during the nesting-season is “а strange one 
of two notes and quite unmusical.” Very little has been written about its habits, but the following 
account is given by Colonel Vincent Legge in his ‘Birds of Ceylon’ (p. 454) :—“ 'This species frequents 
the outskirts of forest, patna-jungle, detached woods, and frequently visits therefrom the gardens of 
the planters, in which its frugivorous habits cause it to do a considerable amount of mischief. It is 
very partial to mulberries, and, in fact, does not seem to turn aside from any fruit grown in the hills 
of Ceylon. Mr. Bligh, who has seen it frequently in Kotmalie and Haputale, tells me that it collects 
in scattered flocks to feed on the fruit of the guava and wild fig, uttering a chirping note while so 
doing. Young males, which Mr. Thwaites observed in the Hakgala Gardens, were very shy, flying 
up from the ground, when flushed by him, into low trees, and then escaping into the surrounding 
jungle; they frequented the manure-heaps near his bungalow, and had a low cry like that of a 
young Blackbird.” 
Тһе nest is placed in the fork of a tree, 
composed of moss, lined with thin roots. 
inches in height; the internal measurements are 3 to 
The eggs are usually four in number, pale bluish-green, 
arger end. The underlying markings are pale purple. They measure from 
(Oates's ed. Hume's Nests and Eggs of 
years it occurs in considerable 
December it has been severa 
other specie 
other choice trees with which this beautiful 
on a foundation of dead leaves and mud, and is chiefly 
Externally the nest is about 6 inches in diameter by 23 
31 inches in width and 12 to 2 inches in depth. 
blotched, spotted, and streaked with brownish- 
red, principally at the 1 
1:06 to 0:99 inch in length by 0:76 to 0:70 inch in breadth | 
Indian Birds, ii. p. 97). 
Geocichla wardi is most nearly allied to @. sibirica. Тһе males аге, of course, very different in 
colour, but they both have much white on the tail, and—a much more important character—they 
both have the brilliant white eye-stripe. The females of these two species, on the other hand, are 
o much alike that it requires close examination to distinguish between them. This may, however, 
those on the latter are never 
'The male 
8 
be easily done by noting the spots on Ше wings and upper tail-coverts : 
found in the Siberian species, and those on the former are confined to immature examples. 
of G. schistacea resembles that of G. wardi in its black throat and breast and in its white eye-stripe, 
but as the female is unknown it is impossible to speak confidently of the relationship of these two species. 
In the adult male the general colour of the upper parts is black, with white tips to the feathers 
of the rump and the upper tail-coverts; lores Маск; eye-stripe white, broad, and extending nearly 
from the nostrils to the nape; lesser wing-coverts black, tipped with white ; median and greater 
wing-coverts black, with white terminal fan-shaped spots ; primary-coverts black, with a broad white 
patch on the outer webs; tertials black, with white terminal fan-shaped spots ; secondaries black, 
with white tips to the outer webs; primaries nearly black, with white margins on the central portion 
of the outer webs of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th; tail nearly black, with more or less white at the end 
of the inner webs of allexcept the central pair, and at the base of the outer webs of one or two of 
the lateral pairs; ear-coverts black; underparts above the centre of the breast black, below white, 
excepting the flank-feathers, which are black with white margins and shafts; axillaries black, with 
white bases and narrow white margins; lower primary-coverts dark brown; lower secondary-coverts 
white, with black bases. 
