Birds in (Old about thr Station. 
85 
Tlicy are fjiifly common here, passing Ihrougli in the 
autumn and spring. 1 have not had it in tlie aviary and, as 
1 am now keei)ing' a I'ew J-limalayan birdsj, 1 much icgret not 
having kept some of tlie beauties 1 caught in July this year. 
It takes readily to cage life and rather to my astonishment 
I found it very easy to meat oil'. This year they came 
down exceptionally eariy, mid June, and also left early. A 
very large percentage of our autunui bii'ds are young, and 
this makes the getting of pairs a matter of some difficulty and 
I do like keeping birds in pair.s, even though they may light 
a bit, as do my Blue Chats at present. 
General colour, bright verd iter -blue, brightest on the 
forehead, thi'oat, breast, and upper tail-coverts, with a little 
black about the face, and the under tail-coverts margined with 
white. The hen is a bit duller and has brown instead of black 
on the face, but it is not ea.sy to sex a solitary bird. I^ength 
alx»ut six inches. 
Thf, AVhite-Gokgktteu Flycatchers {Anthipcn) are 
not found here but 1 got two in Darjiling and found them take 
well to cage -life, nice birds but not gaudy. 
The Brown Flycatcher {Alsconu.c lafirostris) T have 
seen here in the spring. It calls for no remark as the name 
suits it, though it is whitish underneath, distinctly a " Sparrow - 
bird." Length about 5 inches. 
The Grey-headed Flycatcher (CuUeicapa ceyloji- 
eiusis) appears to me to be unfortunately named. It is grey- 
headed, it is found in Ceylon, and it may catch other and more 
noxious insects than flies, though I doubt it. It has u ^•cl•y 
wide distribution and deserves a better name for its colouring, 
which, is grey above and bi'ight yellow underneath. As a 
matter of fact, there is a certain amount of yellow on the 
wings, tail, and back, and the breast and throat arc gi'cy. 
Non-bird friends are not given to text-book descriptions and 
with striking looking Inrds like this a very brief (and perhaps 
not strictly accurate) description is easier to identify from than 
a rambling detailed account, with probably inaccurate details. 
With this bird I generally ascertain that it dashes into the air 
aiici- small Hies, returnin'g to somewhere about the same per(di, 
that it IS about the size of a Wren, but not so fat, and that 
it has not a fan-like tail, and then, identilicatioji is simple. 
