GECINUS STEIOLATUS. 
195 
well and the markings on the throat are confined to these mesial lines; under wing-coverts with arrow-shaped 
bars', and the bases of the under tail-coverts with a central spear-shaped mark. 
Fema l e . Has the crown as well as the nape black, the ear-coverts darker, and the throat perhaps duskier, as a rule, 
than in the male ; the frontal feathers are pale-edged, the central portions only being b ac . 
Obs The under surface of this Woodpecker is variable in appearance, owing to a discoloration of the feathers ; it is 
'only in new plumage that the green hue of the chest and breast is pure; it soon becomes sullied and 
scarcely any two specimens (at least according to my experience of a tolerably large series of indr^ and Ceykmese 
individuals) have the lower parts of the same hue, some being completely brownish, the green tint of the central 
portions of the feathers being only perceptible on close examination. , , , - • 
Ceylonese examples are identical with Indian in plumage, and are quite equal to 
From an examination of a series in the national collection, from Nepal and other districts, I find that the wings 
fn the males vary from 4-9 to 5-2 inches, and in females from 4-8 to 5-0. Mr. Ball’s tabulation of Ghota-Nagpur 
specimens shows the wing in 3 males as 5-05 inches, and in a female as 4-95; the bills m these specimens are 
remarkably long, varying from 1-8 to 1-7. A female from the Palanis measures- wing 5-0, bill from gape 1 4. 
V,. * Burmah, * — #. 
Himalayas, and O. dimidiatus from Java. It is most nearly allied to the first named, which Jerdon ci • 
duplicate of it.” G. viridanus, however, is a larger bird ; the wings in a male measure 54 and in a female 5 b inches 
It has a greener under surface, the quills are much darker, and the rump is not so ye low as in G. stnohtus , the 
black superciliary line is bolder in the male, and the black moustachial band broader, with the feathers con- 
spicuously white-edged. In the female the forehead is uniform black, and the cheek-band much more pronounced ; 
while the quills and rump present the same distinction as in the male. 
G squamatus is also considerably larger than G. striolatus, and has the scale-like markings of the under surface confined 
' to the lower breast and abdomen. The forehead in the female is agam uniform black, and not edged with whitish, 
as in G. striolatus. . , „ e.n j ne y ieg x %v pb the bill perhaps shorter as a rule. The 
G. dimidiatus is about the some “ t be breast and lower parts with conspicuous, blackish, scale-like markings; 
p" not ,T,e“ l to 0. to to. female, as to the tat, the forehead present* the ..me peculiar,.,, bang 
quite black. 
Distribution -This Woodpecker has a restricted range in Ceylon, being, as far as is yet known, quite a 
hill-bM Until late year. It escaped all observation, and had no place in the Ceylon lists, winch was owmg to 
the imperfect exploration of the patnas in the Central Province, to which it is almost “SnS^'selawa 
The first specimen brought to the notice of the ornithological world was lulled m 1872 in the Pusseia 
district, and was recorded by me, toe. cit. Mr. Laurie procured a female example about the same time in t e 
Knuckles district. Subsequently Mr. Bligh obtained a pair in the Haputale ranges the shooting of which 
was recorded in the c Observer/ These were killed at an elevation of 4500 feet, and others have since been 
shot by him at the same elevation near the Catton estate. It is more plentiful in the Uva patna basin ., r. 
the great stretch of grassy scrub-covered hills extending across from Udu Pusselawa to the northern 
slopes of the Haputale hills) and in the district beyond Badulla than m any other part, save perhaps the 
similarly featured country below Ilangrankette. I have shot it near Lunugalla, and on the Logole-oya m 
Madulsima, and likewise in the valley in Lower Hewahette; and I once met with it in the low-lying patnas 
at the foot of the Hewa-Elliya range at an elevation of about 1000 feet. 
It is not improbable that it will he found in the Bakwana district, and perhaps on the Karawita bills ; 
and in the Central Province it may possibly extend considerably down the valley of the Mahawelliganga, w eic 
the country is open, grassy, and dotted with scattered timber. . 
On the mainland this Green Woodpecker enjoys an extensive range, being found m Southern and Centr 
I da and in the Himalayas. Jerdon remarks that he has seen it in Malabar in low jungle near the sea, m 
WW e-round on the Nilghiris and on the Eastern Ghats, and also that it occurs rarely near Calcutta. 
irTtlm Palani hills Mr. Fairbank procured a single specimen at 4000 feet elevation; but he remarks that 
it i, absent from the Khandala district, Mr. Ball, experience of it is that it U rate in ChoU Nagpcw and 
more abundant in the Satpura hills, and that it occurs sparingly throughout the coast-region lying 
the Mahanadi and Godavery rivers. In the north-west it is local ; Captain Butler procured it ^ » 
