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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. VIII. 



building in bushy trees, and sometimes in the hollows of dead 

 and broken trees. The eggs are from two to four in number, pure 

 white in colour, and sometimes pinkish-white, when very fresh, 

 with a cap of paler tint at the broad end. 



110. Munia punctulata, the Spotted Munia. Common at 

 low altitudes, especially about paddy fields and threshing-floors. 



111. Munia striata, the White-backed Munia. Very fre- 

 quently to be found about paddy fields, but scarce away 

 from them. In Rangalla District I have found these little 

 birds breeding in fruit-trees in my garden, though the nearest 

 paddy land was some distance from where I lived. 



112. Artamus fuscus, the Ashy Wood Swallow. I have 

 occasionally met with this bird in small flocks hawking over 

 open fields and chena, but it is by no means common, as far as 

 my experience leads me to believe. 



113. Acridotheres melanosternus, the Ceylon Mynah. Com- 

 mon in every paddy field in the district where there are buffaloes. 



114. Stumornis senex, the White-headed Starling. A 

 rare bird, frequenting open lands that are here and there 

 dotted over with solitary trees or clumps of jungle. 1 believe that 

 the examples in the Museum of this bird were procured by 

 myself in this district. I have found it only in flocks, and on 

 separate occasions of some months apart, at 2,500 feet elevation. 



115. Eulabes ptilogenys, Ceylon Mynah. Very abundant at 

 nearly all altitudes in the district, though less so at 2,000 than 

 4,000 feet. 



116. Pitta coronata, the Indian Pitta. A migratory bird, 

 arriving during the N.K. monsoon, during which time it is 

 numerous throughout the district, and equally so or nearly 

 equally so at all elevations. The Sinhalese often catch these birds 

 and cage them, but they do not live long in confinement, usually 

 breaking their necks against the cage, or over-eating themselves. 

 The Sinhalese name ( avichchiyd ) is taken from the peculiar call 

 these birds utter, particularly during the early mornings, or 

 when going to roost in the trees at nightfall, 



117. Palumbus Torringtonice — The Ceylon Wood-pigeon. 

 Present throughout the year, but local according to the abund- 

 ance or the reverse of certain fruits, so much so that one 

 commonly hears sportsmen remark that these pigeons " are not 

 in" — a statement rather wide of the truth when made with 

 reference to an endemic species. 



