68 KOYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, ( CEYLON BRANCH.) 



acquainted with its call note, having procured specimens 

 in Haputale in 1869. Not knowing at the time that it 

 had only recently been made known, I looked upon it then 

 as a winter visitor to this Island; now I have no doubt 

 but they leave this for more northern climes for nesting 

 purposes. As I have noticed with many other species of 

 small migratory birds here, so with this; the males precede 

 the females and immature males by several days. By the 

 24th of the month, their robin-like notes could be heard on 

 all sides, and seemed to be the commonest bird here. Now 

 (18th November) the greater number seem to have moved 

 on, but still they are to be found in every suitable locality. 

 Three or four are now chirping round the bungalow. Their 

 most favourite haunts seem to be thick rocky ehenas, inter- 

 spersed with a few trees bordering on open ground. They 

 are very restless birds; in habit they have much more 

 affinity to the robins and chats than to fly-catchers. Its 

 most common notes are like, " hwit, jur, tick, tick, tick" 

 indifferently uttered, separately or all together, and it has 

 a pleasant little song. When the "tick, tick" is uttered, 

 the bird always elevates the tail, and reminds one most 

 forcibly then of the familiar robin. They are the earliest 

 birds to get up that I know of here; they are early enough 

 to see the bat off to bed, and the other evening when 

 watching one of those creatures breaking its day's fast on a 

 luscious guava, the robin-chat was chirping his goodnight 

 in an orange tree hard by. 



