breast indistinctly centred with paler brown. Tail underneath greenish bine. Bill pale 
brown, with an orange tinge. Rictai bristles strongly developed ; the feathers of the fore- 
head and chin stiff, shafted, and terminating in bristles. Naked skin of the cheek yellow. 
Legs and feet dull yellow. Iris brown. Length about 9"\5, wing 4'5, tail rather less than 
?>" inches. 
Hah. The island of Ceylon. ( Layard , Chapman .) 
This Barbet is the Ceylonese representative of the green group which forms such a 
well-marked sub-division of the genus Megalcema. It is most nearly allied to M. caniceps of 
continental India, and has been frequently united to it ; but, as a peculiar local distribution 
is accompanied by a permanent difference in size and depth of colouring, yve retain both as 
good species in the same v r ay as w r e have retained the Himalayan and Javan species of 
Lineated Barbet as distinct. It may be distinguished from M . caniceps by the dark-brown 
instead of the pale earthy brown head, the generally darker colouring of the neck, throat, 
and breast, and the smaller dimensions. In M. caniceps , too, the upper back is greyish 
brown, while in M. zeylonica it is green. From Lord Walden’s new species, M. inornata , it 
is distinguished by the pale streaks on the breast which are wanting in M. inornata , and 
also by the dark colouring, the latter species being of the two most similar to M. caniceps. 
As but little is known of the habits of this species, we have thought it worth while to 
extract in full Mr Layard’s very interesting account of it, which contains some curious 
information regarding its habit of clinging and tapping : — 
“ The Brown-headed Barbet is common in Ceylon, and universally distributed. It 
“ feeds on fruits and berries of all kinds, which it swallows entire: it does not, that I know 
“ of, devour small birds when in a state of nature ; but one kept in a large aviary at 
“ Colombo destroyed all the little Amadince placed with it. Not content with snapping 
“ them up when within his reach, he would lie in wait for them behind a thick bush or the 
“ feeding-trough, pounce upon them unawares, and, after beating them a little on the 
“ ground or perch, swallow them whole. When this cannibal came into my possession, he 
“ was confined in a smaller ca°;e than that in which he had at first been secured ; this 
“ seemed to displease him, and he went to work to find some means of escape: he narrowly 
“ examined every side and corner to discover a weak spot, and having detected one applied 
“ himself vigorously to bore a hole through it as a Woodpecker would have done. Grasp- 
“ ing the bars with his feet he swung himself round, bringing his whole weight to bear 
