PERXIS PTILOX ORH YX CHUS . 
91 
brown, crossed with dark bars alternating with the interspaces of the inner webs ; tail smoky brown, deeply tipped 
with white, and crossed with four narrow and rather irregular bars of dark sepia-brown, the subterminal one not 
much broader than the others, and the light portions crossed with wavy light rays ; throat and entire under 
surface, with the under wing and the edge above the metacarpal joint, pure unmarked white ; ear-coverts pale 
brownish. 
Prom this stage the first advance towards adult plumage is made (probably after the first moult) by the head, hind 
neck, and upper surface generally becoming more uniformly dark, although there is usually still a good deal of 
white about the hind neck ; the dark lores and space behind the eye extend, and the cheeks and face become 
striated with dark brown, and a series of streaks from the gape down each side of the throat appear as the first 
signs of the future dark stripe ; the bars on the tail, especially the subterminal one, become broader ; the chest and 
breast assume blackish-brown stripes, more or less broad, on the white ground, while the lower breast, flanks, and 
abdomen become, in some examples, barred with brown, and in others washed over the whole feather with the 
same, the flanks and thigh-coverts generally being the darkest. In this stage, I believe, a considerable advance in 
the plumage is made by a change in the feather itself ; and hence the great variety in the birds at this age. The 
dark grey hue of the lores spreads over the cheeks ; the ear-coverts and forehead become nearly concolorous with 
the crown ; the broad lateral throat-stripes of black develop and spread across the fore neck, the chin and gorge 
becoming brownish ; at the same time the bars oil the lower parts of those examples having the barred feature 
spread over the feather, or the browm of the flanks in the other type encroaches gradually on the breast. 
Obs. Mr. Gurney has noticed that Ceylonese specimens of this Honey-Buzzard are larger than those from India. As 
will be seen, the above list contains some very high wing-measurements; but if an extensive series of Indian birds 
be examined, I have no doubt some will be found equally large. Mr. Hume gives the largest wdug, iu six females 
measured, as 17 - 25, and Mr. Sharpe, in his Catalogue, the average of a large series as 16'5. Some I have 
measured in the British Museum are as follows — (Deccan) 16-2, (Xepaul) 16-2, (X. Bengal) 17-4, (Kamptee) 10-3, 
(Himalayas) 17'1, (Darjiling) 154). All our largest specimens have been shot in the hills of Ceylon; and, as 1 
demonstrate below that the species is for the most part migratory to Ceylon, these large birds must be not 
inferior to their fellows elsewhere, or they must be bred on the hills of the island. Mr. Sharpe has measured an 
example from Java with the wing 17*8, which favours the idea that Ceylonese birds may migrate from that quarter, 
although it must be remarked that Javan birds have longer crests than ours. Much has been said about the 
irregular plumage of the Honey-Buzzards; but if a series of examples of different ages be examined, a regular 
gradation in the plumage, from the pale-chested bird up to the one with the grey face (w 7 hich is an unmistakable 
sign of age) and the dark under surface, can be noticed. The fact of w T hite-chested birds breeding with dark ones 
can be easily explained by assuming that there is in the Honey-Buzzard, as in some Eagles, a permanent light phase. 
Distribution . — The Honey-Buzzard is to a certain extent a migratory bird to Ceylon, and appears, from 
what I observed while in the island, to make its appearance first of all on the north and north-east coasts, 
which leads to the inference that it migrates with the north-east monsoon from Burmah, or perhaps from the 
southern part of the Indian peninsula, to Ceylon. It used to appear yearly on the coast about Trincomalie 
during November and December, and then depart into the interior. In 1874 I obtained two newly arrived 
and very tame examples in the Fort, which is a point of call for many migrants arriving with the north-east 
wind on that part of the coast. Several other birds haunted the vicinity of the town at the same time ; in the 
following year, however, scarcely an example was to be seen, although it was comparatively numerous iu the 
Kandy district. It was first recorded as a Ceylonese bird by Mr. Iloldsworth [he. cit.), from an adult female 
shot by Mr. Forbes Laurie in the Madoolkella district, not far from Kandy. It had prior to this been 
received from Ceylon, but its occurrence omitted to he noticed in print. It locates itself in the northern 
forests, preferring the vicinity of the tanks which abound in that part ; and many birds remain there yearly, and 
doubtless breed in those unfrequented haunts. I have seen it in such places during the soutli-w r est monsoon, 
and have likewise received specimens from Avisawela and Kurunegala, in the western part of the island, at the 
same season of the year. I have shot it in August iu the Park country, w here it is not uncommon ; and 1 
have no doubt it inhabits the forests between Badulla and Hambantota. In the south-west I have never 
known it to occur. As regards the mountain-region, it is principally found about Dumbara and other places 
of intermediate altitude in the direction of Kandy. Occasionally, however, it ascends much above this ; for 
Mr. Bligli has shot it in Dimbula. It is possible that some of the birds occurring on the hills have been bred 
there, as they appear to he larger than those which are evidently migrants. 
