TUEDUS SPILOPTEEA. 
(THE SPOTTED THKUSH.) 
(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 
Oreocincla spiloptera, Blyth, J, A. S. B. 1847, xvi. p. 142; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 160 
(1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 122 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, 
xii. p. 270 ; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 303 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 446 ; Legge, Ibis, 
1874, p. 18 ; id. Str. Feath. 1875, p. 367. 
The Thrush, Europeans in Central Province. 
Val-avitchia, lit. “ Wild Ant-thrush,” Sinhalese. 
<S ad. supr& oHyascenti-brunneiis, yix rufescens, uropygio tamen et supracaudalibus magis rufescentibus : tectricibus 
alarum minimis dorso concoloribus, mediani.s nigris conspicu6 albo tenninaliter maculatia, majoribus interioribus 
dorso concoloribus, exterioribns nigris dorsi colore extiis lavatis et albo terminatis : secundariis dorso concoloribus, 
pmuarns uigricanti-bruunois, e.xtu8 dorsi eolore lavatis : rectricibiis mediis olivascenti-brurineis, reliquis saturate 
brunneis extus olivaseenli-brunneis : loris albidis : anuulo ophthalmico pure albo: facie laterali albida, plumis 
nigro termmatis, inacubt infraoculari nigpl, : supercilio albido, supra regionem piaroticam indistincto : corpore subtus 
albo, praspi^tore maculis nigris triquetris magnis oruato : pectore qnoquo maculato, maculis tamen minoribus et 
magis ovalibus : gula, abdomine toto, subcaudalibus et corpoi'is lateribus grisescenti-brimneo lavatis : subalaribus 
albis, majoribus basaliter nigris : axillaribus albis nigro terminatis : remigibus infra brunneis, secundariis ad apicem 
pogonu interni aims : rostro nigricanti-brunneo : pedibus corneo-plumbescentibus, unguibus pallido brunneis : iride 
dare brunnea. ° ^ 
Adult male and female. Length 8'0 to 8-7 (average 8-4) inches ; wing 3-8 to 4'1 ; tail 3-0 to 3'2; tarsus 1-3 to 1-5; 
mid toe and claw 1-1 to 1-25 ; bill to gape 1-05 to 1-2. 
Iris brown ; eyelid leaden grey ; bill blackish, pale at gape ; legs and feet dusky bluish grey or greyish fleshy, claws 
dusky horn. 
Above olive-brown, more or less pervaded with a rusty hue, chiefly on the lower back and upper tail-coverts ; least wing- 
coverts concolorous with the back ; primaries and secondaries brown, washed with olive on the outer webs ; median 
and greater wing-coverts with a terminal white spot, smallest on the greater series, which have their outer webs 
concolorous with those of the quills ; tail rusty olive-brown, crossed with faint dark rays towards the end, and with 
the inner \vebs dusky ; lores and a narrow imperfect supercilium w'hitish ; beneath the eye and the ear-coverts 
black, the latter crossed obliquely by a white patch • on the lower part of the cheek the feathers are tipped blackish; 
chin, throat, and under surface white, the feathers on the lower fore neck, chest, and breast with oval bar-like 
terminal blackish spots ; flanks and sides of ventral region smoky olivaceous grey ; thighs olivaceous on the exterior 
side ; under W'ing-coverts white, with a blackish bar formed by the tips of the median row and the bases of the 
succeeding one. 
Females. Have the upper surface, as a rule, more rusty than males, and sometimes a bufl! hue on the throat and parts 
of the under surface. 
Examples of both sexes vary in the extent of the spottings on the chest and sides of breast. 
Young. The nestling, when leaving the nest, has the bill brown, with the base and the tip yellowish ; legs and feet 
bluish fleshy. Upper surface ferruginous brown, generally darker on the head and most rufous on the rump and 
upper tail-coverts ; the hind neck, back, and scapulars with fulvous mesial lines, and the tips of the coverts the 
same ; the markings of the face, ear-coverts, and sides of neck buff instead of white ; prevailing hue of the under 
surface the same ; the chin and abdomen whitish ; chest and sides of breast with blackish edgings ; the cheek- 
patch and spot on the upper eyelid blacker than in the adult. 
During the first few months the bill becomes black, and the ferruginous and buff livery is doffed, the w'hite, black- 
spotted feathers of the chest and under surface first appearing. 
Ohs. This Thrush varies, according to climate, in the hue of its upper surface. As might be expected, in the dry forests 
of the north and east this is ferruginous, while up-country and Saffragam birds are quite olivaceous in their 
coloration. 
3m2 - 
