CENTROPTXS CHLORORHYNCHUS. 
(THE CEYLONESE COUCAL.) 
(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 
Centropus chlororhynchus , Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1849, xviii. p. 805 ; Gray, Gen. Biids, iii. 
App. p. 22 (1845); Blyth, Cat. Birds A. S. B. p. 78 (1849); Kelaart, Prodiomus, 
Cat. p. 128 (1852) ; Bayard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 450 ; Cab. et 
Heine, Mas. Hein. iv. p. 116 (1862); Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 298; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 
1872, p. 433; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 16. 
Green-billed Jungle- Crow, Europeans in Ceylon. 
JEtti-JcuJcJcula, Sinhalese, Western Province. 
Similis C. rvfipenni, sed rostro viridi et magis curvato: pileo et collo postico amethystino-purpureo nitentibus : mter- 
scapulii' plumarum apicibus scapularibusque concoloribus : remigibus terminaliter magis quam m C. rujipemii 
infuscatis. 
Adult male and female. Length. 16-2 to 17‘75 inches; wing fl-3 to 6-5 ; tail 9'0 to 9’5 ; tarsus 1’7 to l - 8; outer 
anterior toe L35 to 1-5, its claw (straight) 0-5; outer posterior toe and claw l - 4, long posterior claw 07 ; bill 
to gape I’d to 1‘75. _ 
Iris deep red or dull crimson ; bill pale apple-green, slightly pale along the margins ; inside of mouth, except towards 
the tips, orbital skin, and nostril-membrane black ; legs and feet black ; claws dusky, greenish at the base. 
Entire plumage, except the wings, scapulars, and tips of interseapular feathers, black, glossed on the back of the head, 
hind neck, upper part of interscapulary region, and the throat with purple, changing towards the tips of the 
feathers into beautiful amethystine ; the lower parts and upper surface of tail with blue, and the back with 
obscure metallic green ; the quills are dark chestnut, much more infuscated at the tips than the last species ; the 
wing-coverts and scapulars are darker still, or of a dull maroon, with the bases of the feathers blackish ; under 
wing-coverts blackish. 
Young. The fledged nestling has the iris slate-grey ; bill dusky at base and along the culmen, with the apical portion 
greenish ; legs and fe8t dusky flesh-colour. 
Wings and scapulars red as in adult, black plumage the same ; but the feathers of the head are encased in soft sheaths 
or “ pens,” each of which terminates in a long white hair-like process, which in time drops off, the feather emerging 
from the tip. 
The yearling bird has the bill as in the adult, but with the tip of the lower mandible dusky. The upper plumage is 
not so highly bronzed as in the old bird ; wing-coverts obscurely barred with blackish, tips of quills more infus- 
cated ; inner webs of tertials concolorous with the tips. 
Ohs. This species is closely allied to the preceding, its most conspicuous distinguishing characteristic being its green 
bill, which is also more curved than that of C. rufipennis ; but the richer metallic hues and dark-tipped wings 
would well suffice to separate it even were the bill of the same colour. 
Distribution. — This handsome species was discovered by Layard in 1848 on the Avisawella road ; but one 
specimen was then procured by him, which was forwarded to Blyth and described by this naturalist under its 
present title. In 1852 Layard again met with it, securing another example at Hanwclla and three more “ in 
the dense jungle near Pallabaddoola, at the foot of the Peak.'” These researches, therefore, gave but a very 
small range, the extreme limits falling within forty miles. Mr. Holdsworth records the fact of seeing an 
individual of the species once, but did not procure it. Mr. Neville, 1 understand, obtained several specimens 
in the Western Province, probably between Ratnapura and Colombo, and was, prior to the date of my 
acquaintance with it, the only collector who, besides Layard, as far as I am aware, ever procured it. 
Instead of being so rare as was hitherto supposed, this “ Jungle-Crow” exists in considerable numbers 
throughout the tract of country which it inhabits. This consists of the south-west hill-region, ranging from 
