376 
HEMIPUS PICATUS. 
tract of the northern plains, stretching from Pnttalam across to the Mahawelliganga, in a part of which (the 
liigrh jungles between Minery and Kowdella) I found it as plentiful as in the hills. In the Saffragam forests 
and the wilder districts of the Western Province nearer the sea it is likewise found ; and I have procured it 
as near Colombo as the jungle at Atturugeria, on the Kotte and Eop^ road. 
Tliis little Shrike is common in the south of India and the central portions of the peninsula. Jerdon 
ound It in the Nilghiris and along the crest of the Western Ghfits. On the Nilghiris he obtained it as 
high as 7000 feet. Mr. Bourdillon remarks of it that it is not very abundant in Travancore ; and 
Mr. I airbank observed but few on the Palanis. Should Mr. Hume be correct in joining the two species, 
.capttalis and H. picatus, the range of this little bird becomes considerably extended, as the northern form 
IS found in Chota Nagpur, Northern India, the Himalayas up to an elevation of 5000 feet, and also in 
Eurmah In Tenasserim Mr. Davison procured it in the neighbourhood of Pahpoon only ; and I conclude 
this is the most southerly point to which it has been traced on the eastern side of the Bay.' 
is a tame but at the same time an interesting little bird ; so unobservant is it of human 
intrusion on its haunts that it may be watched most closely without its being disturbed ; and I know no dimi- 
nutiye denizen of the tall forests of the Ceylon mountains, save perhaps the lively little Grey-headed Flycatcher 
iCultcicapa ceylonensis) , which better repays a cursory glance at its manners and occupations. It is 
generally found in paii-s, frequenting tall trees near the edges of forest and heavy jungle; and it perches 
high aloft among the branches, sallying out from its seat after the manner of a Flycatcher, and catching a 
passing insect, which it will frequently convey to its original perch before devouring. It is slower in its 
movements than the members of the family Muscicapida;, but on the whole its habits are more those of a 
Flycatcher than a Slirike. It is of stationary habit, frequenting the same spot for hours together • and it 
usually prefers the company of its own fellows to that of other small birds, though it may at times be seen 
with Minivets, Bluetits, and Grey-headed Flycathers. It constantly utters its shrill little note, which may 
be likened to the syllables tcheetiti, tcheetiti, tcheetiti-chJFe. Jerdon remarks that in India » it is generally seen 
ui small parties of five or six wandering about from tree to tree, and every now and then darting on insects 
in tie air. It has a pleasing little song, not often heard however.” My experience of it in Ceylon difl'ers 
from this, for there it constantly utters the above-described note. Mr. Oates, in writing of the Tenasserim 
bird, likewise comments on its Flycatcher-like habits as follows “ They are rather Flycatchers than Shrikes 
in their habits, moving about, no doubt, amongst the leaves at the tops of trees like the Wood-Shrike but 
continually darting out and seizing insects on the wing, which the Wood-Shrikes, I think, never do Thev 
continually call to each other, uttering a sharp soft note.” ' ^ 
Nid^cahon.—ln the south of India this little Shrike breeds in March. Mr. Davison thus describes a 
nest he found “ For the size of the bird it was an exceedingly small, shallow nest, and might very easily 
have passed unnoticed ; the bird sitting on it appeared to be resting only on a small lump of moss and lichen ” 
It was placed in the fork of an upper branch of a rather tall Berberis leschenaulti, and was composed of nrass 
and fine roots, covered externally with pieces of cobweb, grey lichen, and bits of moss, taken evidently 
from the same tree on which the nest was built. The eggs were three in number, elongated ovals, and entirely 
devoid ot gloss ; the ground-colour pale greenish or greyish white, profusely blotched, blotted, and streaked 
with darker and lighter shades of umber-brown, more or less confluent, in one case, at the larger, and in the 
other at the smaller end. Dimensions 0-7 by 0-5 inch, and 0-69 by 0-49 inch. 
