PIOUS MAHRATTENSIS. 
185 
in the interior of the country between there and the central road. Further north, however, it is found, for 
there the jungle is more suited to its habits. Mr. H. E. Hayes, of the Ceylon Public Works Dept., writes me 
that he has met with it at a place about 22 miles from Mullaittivu, called by the euphonious Tamil name of 
“ Manawalempattumuripu !” Layard found it in the Northern Province and considered it to be confined to 
that part. I have seen it in the scrubs to the south of Kottiar, and all that densely clothed low jungle 
country lying between there and the Tamankadua Pattu is a most likely district for it. In the drier parts of 
the Central Province it is not unfrequent, inhabiting the secluded patna-nullahs, which are dotted here anc 
there with clumps of wood interspersed with its favourite tree the Euphorbia. In such places I have seen it m 
the Ilewaliette district and also iu Uva, in which latter part I once shot it on the Logole-oya, at an elevation 
of about 2500 feet. _ ,. 
In India the Mahratta Woodpecker is dispersed pretty well all over the peninsula, being found, according 
to Jerdon, in “almost every district up to the foot of the Himalayas, except in lower Bengal, though 
common in the Midnapore jungles.” Particularizing the localities which it inhabits, we find it recorded by 
him as rare on the Malabar coast, but plentiful in the gap of Coimbatore. In the Palani hills it is not 
uncommon up to 5000 feet, a very considerable elevation for a heat-loving bird as it evidently is. It does 
not appear to be found in the Travancore hills, but Mr. Hume has received it from the Wynaad. In the 
Deccan and Khandala district it is widely dispersed, but not abundant. Further north, about the Sambliur 
Lake and in the Guzerat region, it is well known, though it appears, according to Mr. Hume, not to be found 
in Sindh. In Chota Nagpur it is distributed through the Province, though not very common. In Upper 
Pegu it again appears as the P. blanfordi of Blyth, and is, according to Captain Feilden, “ found everywhere 
from the low grounds of Thayctmyo to the tops of the highest hills.” Mr. Oates says it is common near the 
banks of the Irrawaddy, but was not observed by him far inland, showing that in Burmali as well as in other 
parts it is local. 
Hahiu —This species (regents low jungle and scrub, particularly that iu winch the Euphorbia grows ; 
it is very partial to L tree; in {act eve,; example I have met with in Ceylon was other actual y on or m 
the vicinity of one. On the patnas I have usually observed it among scattered trees torching the trunk. 
and branches with great agility, keeping chief., to the underside of the latter, and wor.ung them on n ear^ 
to their extremities. It is a shy bird and difficult to procure, taking itself off with a short flight to an 
adjacent tree as soon as it perceives any one approaching it. It is usually a solitary m , s unmng ic 
company of its species except in the breeding-season. It has a weak trill, not unue a o ie i a J 
Woodpecker, but of course louder; and Jerdon remarks that it also has a squeaking note. Layard observed 
it chiefly about Euphorbia trees, and Mr. Holdsworth noticed it on old fences as well as dead wood. 
In India it keeps to particular trees — Babool in the Mount Aboo and Sambhur districts, and the Pulas- 
tree (Butea f random ) in Chota Nagpur. Captain Feilden has observed it descending a tree tail foremost 
with great ease. Its food, according to my observations, consists mainly of small insects and ants; but J5 i. 
Oates found small beetles in the stomach of one. 
Nidification , — The nest of the Yellow-fronted Woodpecker has never, to my knowledge, been found in 
Ceylon. It is almost sure, however, to nest in the Euphorbia tree. In India it breeds from March until 
April, nesting in a hole in a partially decayed branch, choosing, when it can, a Babool tree. Mr. Hume 
records the finding of a nest at Etawah, the hole being cut on the underside of a Babool branch about 
l - 5 inch in diameter, and leadiug to the excavated egg-cavity about 15 inches below it; the eggs were laid 
on chips of the wood made in excavating the hole. The eggs are three in number, less spherical than, but 
in size resembling, those of “the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker of Europe.” Before being blown they are a 
delicate pink, turning glossy white after being emptied of their contents. They measure 087 by 068 inch, 
this being, according to Mr. Hume, the average of a large series* 
* I have not included Ficus macei in this work. It was mentioned by Kelaart as having been procured m the 
island • but it is more than probable the bird was not correctly indentified. It is a North-Indian species, anc cou 
well have occurred in Ceylon, as Woodpeckers are not birds which stray from their usual habitat. ^ 
