338 
CAPRI MULGrUS KELAARTI. 
Mahabaleswar and Ahmednuggur, and also from Raipore, Sankra, and Etowah .while 1 in Travanclre 
birds are found near Simla, altogether out of the accepted range of C MaarU Moreover “ 
Mr Bourdillon has procured both grey and rufous birds, the latter being quite as much so as North-Ind.an speci 
mens^° Thereisno^reason, howevfr, that the two species should not inhabit the same regions ; and d we extend 
the limits of the range of each, this difficulty will be got over. As regards the Ceylonese birds, it is necessary 
to remark that they are all grey and like typical 0. Maarti, which militates against the possibility of suppressing 
the species in Ceylon, whatever maybe done in future as regards India, where it seems difficult to draw the hne of 
separation between it and O. Mens. Two of Mr. Bourdillon’s specimens from Iravancore measuie- 6 , wmg 
6-75 inches ; $ , wing _7'25. In Ceylon the females are much the smaller of the sexes. 
Dhtrlb%tion. — This very handsome Nightjar, first noticed in the island by Dr. Kelamt, and named by 
Birth from specimen, sent him by the Doctor, is almost entirely confined to the monntam-zone and thereto 
inhabits chiefly the upper ranges and the higher part, of Uva. I have seen ,t m great numbers about Nuwara 
Filiya where Its dissolve, remarks, in hi. ■ Prodromus,’ that it swarms m the dusk of the eveumg the 
hlliya wliere ^ u abundant during the S.W. monsoon m all the higher parts of the mam 
which are open and favourable to its habits, such as the Kandapolla and Elephant Plains and similar 
localities as far south as the Horton Plain. It appears to leave these high regions for warmer districts 
during the cold nights of the opposite season, as I found it rare in all the above districts in December, and did 
not meet with it at all on the elevated plateau between Totapella and Kirigalpotta.^ In Haputale and ot im- 
parts of Uva, as well as in most of the coffee-districts of about 3000 to 4000 feet m altitude, it is common 
enough throughout the year; but it is almost unknown in Dumbara, its usual limit being the neig hour ioo< 
of Deltota and Hewahette on the south of the valley, and Kalebokka on the north. It does not appear to have 
been hitherto known from any portion of the low country, although Mr. Holdsworth records as his opinion re 
probability of its leaving Nuwara Elliya during the cold season; hut m August, 187o, I met with it 
locality ofthe Eastern Province which is at the sea-level, and where it was not at all to he expected is was 
in the forest-region at the base of the Eriars-Hood group of isolated hills, which form so prominent an object 
in the Batticaloa country. This tract is connected with the eastern slopes of Uva by detached gioups o 
Mils but they spring from a low base, and are not situated in such a manner as to favourably foster a migration 
Uom the mountains to such a remote part as the Devilane district; and I therefore am mehned to think that 
the species must he resident in portions ofthe Eastern Province, particularly as I found it there at the season 
when it flocks to the upper lulls. In corresponding parts of the Western Province, which he much Mghe 
than the Friars Hood, it does not appear ever to be found; nor have I any evidence of its inhabit! 
Morowak-Korale mountains, although it doubtless does do so, hut has been overlooked by gentlemen col ec mg 
U1 ^OnThe iMinett^f India, Kelaart’s Nightjar is found in the Nilgliiris and the wooded GMts of the 
Central Provinces, all over which latter hills Mr. R. Thompson records it as being common. Mr. Bourdillo 11 
notes it as a winter visitor to the Travancore hills, occurring rather abundantly from November until March. 
It must in this case, ascend the range from the low country, which is the very opposite of its habit m Ceylon 
I observe that Mr. Fairbank did not meet with it on either of his trips to the Palam lulls, which does not 
augur in favour of its being widely spread in the mountains of South India. 
Habits —This Nightjar affects stony patnas, open glades in the forest, and all the confines of the Downs 
or so-called Plains which are such a singular feature of the fine jungle-clad ranges of Ceylon. It hides during 
the day among rocks near the edge of the jungle or among coffee-bushes, and from such places of concealmen 
sallies out early in the evening and on all sides simultaneously is heard its curious call-note, chump-pud, 
t repeated for several minutes and then suddenly stopped on the bird moving out to some conspicuous 
Lh asl stump or huge rock, from which it recommences to utter its call. It is a very noisy hi d n 
the breeding-season, but in the cold weather is almost silent, a peculiarity which was curiously noticca 
the birds I met with at Devilane tank, wliieh, on three consecutive evenings before I shot them, were obsu-ux 
silently hawking on the bund of the tank. This species has a hold and dashing flight, rapic y an noise css } 
nerformed, with frequent dexterous turns in the air, as it seizes its prey, and when disturbed m the day ime i 
quickly darts off and realights on the ground. It is, however, more rarely flushed during the day than ei lei 
