PALAEORNIS CALTHROPiE. 
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Saffragam. Beyond the Karawita hills, which lie to the south of the Kaluganga, I again met with it in the 
forests of the northern or lower part of the Kukltul Korale, and traced it into the Pasdun Korale as far as 
the remote and sequestered village of Moropitiya. Nearer the sea than this locality I did not find it. In the 
south its coast-wise limit appears to he the vicinity of the Haycock, and in the east that of “ Westminster- 
Abbey ” hill. 
From the above remarks it will be seen that this Parrakeet spreads into the low country at all points 
connected with an adjacent forest-covered range, in which it is numerous. 
As regards the altitude to which it ascends, I have seen it between 5000 and 6000 feet above. Maturata, 
at a similar height in the Wilderness of the Peak and in Haputale, and Dr. Kelaart records it from Nuwara 
Elliya, though neither Mr. Holdsworth nor Mr. Bligli met with it there. 
Habits. — Layard* s Parrakeet frequents the outskirts and open places in the interior of forests, patna- woods, 
wooded gorges, and glades in the vicinity of hills ; it associates in moderately-sized flocks, and is a very noisy 
and restless bird, uttering its harsh “ crake ” on the wing, as it dashes up and down the magnificent valleys and 
forest-clad glens of the Ceylon mountains, and enlivens these romantic solitudes with its swift and headlong 
flight. It is entirely arboreal in its habits, settling in flocks among the leaves of its favourite trees, and silently 
devouring the fruit-seeds and buds on which it subsists. It is very partial to the wild fig, the fruit of the 
Kanda-tree ( Macaranga tomentosa), the wild cinnamon-tree, and the flowers of the Bomba-tree. After feeding 
in the mornings it becomes garrulous, assembling in small parties in shady trees, and keeping up a chattering 
note almost similar to that of Layarda rufescens ; towards evening it commences to feed again, and before 
going to roost roams about in small flocks, constantly uttering its loud harsh note, and settling frequently on 
the tops of conspicuous and lofty trees. In the Singha-Rajah forest their presence at evening was more 
conspicuous than that of any other bird; they darted up and down the deep gorges and across the small 
Kurrakan clearings in the forest, keeping up an incessant din ; now and then they rested on the top of some 
dead tree standing in the cheena, and then suddenly glanced off, shooting with arrow-like speed between the 
trees of the forest, again to appear as they swept up the valley and away over the top of the gloomy jungle. 
Its flight is bold and swift, but not of that glancing character peculiar to the last species ; and this, 
together with its harsh cry, which can be heard a long way off, seems to distinguish it easily from 1 al. cyano- 
cephalus. 
Nidification. — The breeding-season commences in January. It nests in holes in large trees; but I have 
never been able to procure the eggs, although I have more than once discovered the nest. I have seen one 
situated in a Hora-tree [Dipterocarpus zeylanicus ) ; the old birds, on flying to it, clung to the bark outside 
the opening, and then pulled themselves into the hole, using the beak to assist them in entering. Layard 
writes that he was informed by natives that they laid two eggs, which, like those of other members of the 
family, would be pure white. In the Peak Wilderness they breed in the decaying trunks of dead Kitool-trees. 
The figures on the Plate are those of an adult female in the foreground, with a slightly abnormal amount 
of black below the cheeks, and a young male from Kaloday, Eastern Province, in the background, which should 
have been drawn with the back turned to the front, so as to show the peculiarly light blue on the rump ot 
immature males. Unfortunately, however, the requirements of the author and the tastes of the artist are 
sometimes at variance. I had wished that these birds should be figured on the “ J ambu-trec,” a sketch of 
which, by Sir Chas. Layard, I furnished my artist with ; but it was not found suitable, and he has introduced 
the common fig-tree of Europe instead. 
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