96 
BAZA CEYLONENSIS. 
Sumatran bird, as far as can be proved by the evidence of tbc single immature example which exists of it, is 
distinct. The testimony of an immature bird, it must be allowed, is not a very safe one to go upon ; but never- 
theless, as the specimen exists, it is a larger bird (wing 12-75, tail, very long, 9-6), has no chin-stripe, which is a 
marked characteristic of B. ceylonensis, has the under-surface bars much broader and of a different appearance, and 
the tippings of the back and scapular feathers fulvous and not white. Unless, therefore, B. magnirostris from the 
Philippines turns out some day to be identical with sumatrensis from Sumatra, and both the same as ceylonensis, I 
think the latter species may hold its own, as it can scarcely be one with the Philippine bird, a species not hitherto 
procured to the westward of those distant islands. As yet every member of the genus (except the curious Baza 
lophotes, totally unlike any other in its plumage) has proved very local in its habitat ; and were it not for this fact, 
it would be difficult to imagine our bird restricted to so small an island as Ceylon *. 
Distribution and Discovery. — This interesting Crested Falcon was described by me ( loc . cit.) from two 
adult examples which I found in the collection of Messrs. Whyte and Co., naturalists, in Kandy, in August 
1876. They were both shot on the same day, the 6th of the same month, by Mr. F. H. Davidson, of Matale^ 
on the Kudupolella estate. In May of the same year, however, I had met with an immature specimen 
(the one now in the Norwich Museum) at Mr. Blights bungalow, and identified it from Mr. Sharpe’s plate in 
the ‘ Catalogue of Birds/ vol. i., as B. sumatrensis. This example was therefore the first that came under my 
notice ; it was shot in the early part of 1875 by a Mr. Colville, near Nilambe, in the Kandy district, and 
preserved in Messrs. Whyte and Co.’s establishment. In the beginning of last year the immature bird referred 
to above as now in the National collection, was procured near Kandy by Messrs. Whyte and Co.’s collectors ; 
and a third example has been lately sent by this firm to the Norwich Museum, a female, and shot in the 
Central Province on the 3rd of January last. Since the publication of my account of the species, Mr. A. Whyte 
has stated, in a paper which appeared in ‘ Stray Feathers/ August 1877, that the “ bird was discovered f by us 
eight years ago, a pair having been shot by one of our collectors not far from Kandy.” With regard to this 
pair Mr. Whyte writes to me lately as follows : — “ They were shot on the same day, from the top of Oodoo- 
wella crag, about four miles from Kandy, by a Singalese collector, Carolis, in the fall of 1870 ; since then at 
least ten specimens of the bird have passed through our hands ; and I can quote Kandy, Matale, Rattota, and 
Deltota as among the situations in which it has been found.” It would appear, therefore, that it has only 
been procured within the very limited district stretching from Matale 10 miles north of Kandy, to Deltota, 
about 12 miles, in a direct line, to the south of the town. This part of the hill-region of Ceylon, it should be 
remarked, is that in which most of the birds are shot that are sent to Messrs. Whyte and Co.’s for preser- 
vation, inasmuch as they can be forwarded by Coolie runners, and skinned before suffering from the decom- 
posing effects of tropical heat ; it is not, therefore, to be inferred that the habitat of the Ceylon Baza is 
restricted to such a very small tract of country as this, but rather that it is a hill-bird scattered throughout the 
s I have just heard, since correcting the proof of this article, from Mr. Hume, that he has lately received a young 
specimen of a Baza from the Wynaad, which he considers must be identical with this species. Mr. Hume has not, as 
far as I am aware, seen examples of B. ceylonensis ; but Ins surmise may be correct. I accordingly put it doubtfully 
“ peculiar to Ceylon.” 
f In the interests of Ceylon ornithology I am constrained to make some remarks on Mr. Whyte’s note on this species. 
Were it not my aim to give a faithful history of all the peculiar Ceylonese forms, I should not have referred to the 
subject. It is difficult to see in what sense the writer uses the word “ discovered.” The species was in reality discovered 
by the collector who shot it ; for the specimens were afterwards skinned, sold unidentified, and lost for ever to science ! 
In continuation of the above paragraph, follows Three more specimens have been collected by us, one of which Captain 
Legge obtained from us.” Two of these I will remark are comprised in the pair shot by Mr. Davidson and sent to 
Messrs. Whyte and Co.’s for preservation, one of which Mr. Whyte sold me under the impression that it was a Crested 
Goshawk (a not unlikely mistake for one who had formed no acquaintance with the genus Baza) ; and the other he sent 
me on the order of Mr. Fraser, of Colombo, a friend of Mr. Davidson, and who kindly presented it to me. The words 
collected by us, in reference to this pair are therefore misapplied. When I wrote to Mr. Whyte, shortly after the 
purchase of the type specimen, that it was a new Baza, I much wish that he had informed me of his having previously 
received a pair. I could then have made inquiries concerning the birds, and should perhaps have succeeded in tracing 
them to their destination; in which case I could have verified Mr. Wbvte’s identification. 
