KELAAETIA PENICILLATA. 
(THE YELLOW-EAKED BULBUL.) 
(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 
Pycnonotus penicillatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1851, xx. p. 178 ; Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. 
p. 123 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 125. 
Kelaartia penicillata, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Suppl. Madr. Journ. 1845, xiii. no. 70; 
id. B. of Ind. ii. p. 86 (1863); Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 450 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, 
p. 20 ; id. Str. Feath. 1876, p. 245. 
J acL supra flaYueanti-viridis, tectrieibus alarum dorso concoloribus : remigibus saturate brunneis, extus flavicauti- 
Y iridi marginatis, secundariis intimis fere omnino flaY'icanti-Yuridibu.s : rectricibus olivascenti-brunneis, extiis 
flaYucanti-viridi laYatis et angiiste flavo termiuatis : pileo summo nigricaute, postice flaYdcauti-Yuridi lavato : fascia 
lorali alba : palpebra siimnia alba : loris posticis et facie lateral! nigricanti-bruuneis, fascia per regionem paroticam 
superiorem dueta Isete flava : supercilio lato, beto flavo, supra regionem paroticam ducto, fasciam peiiicillatam 
formante : genis antiois gulaque albis ; colli lateribus cinereis : gula ima et corpore reliquo subtus flaY’is, lateribus 
olivascenti-viridibus : subalaribus et margine alari flavis : romigibus infr<\ cinerascenti-brunneis, intus albo mar- 
giiiatis : rostro nigro : pedibus nigricantibus ; iride rufescenti-brunnea. 
Male. Length 7'5 to 8-0 inches ; Yving 3-2 to 3-4; tail 3-1 to 3-2; tarsus 0-75 to 0-8; mid toe and claYV 0-8; hind 
toe and claYv beneath 0-6 ; bill to gape 0-85. 
Ins red mingled Yvdth brown, or red deepening to brown next the pupil ; tarsi and feet dark leaden blue ; bill black. 
Lores, cheeks, forehead, and croYvn dull black, paling on the occiput into the oliY’e-green of the hind ueck, back, rump, 
Yvings, and tail, and changing into a grey patch below the ears ; a stripe from the nostril up the side of the 
forehead, a spot at the upper eyelid, the chin and gorge Yvhite; a bright yelloYv tuft of lanceolate feathers passing 
back to the neck springs from above the eye, and an impure yelloYV spot lies on the ear-coverts ; inner YY'ebs of 
quills and reetrices blackish brown, the latter washed Yvith the olive-green of the outer webs ; tips of tail-feathers 
beneath yellovYush ; throat yellow, changing into oliv'aeeous or greenish yellow on the Yinder surface ; the abdomen 
and centre of lower breast neaily as yellow as the throat ; flanks dusky, under tail-coverts like the breast. Varia- 
tions exist in the depth of the green of the upper surface and in the yellow of the under surface. 
Female (somewhat smaller). Length 7-1 inches ; wing 3-1. Bill, legs, and feet as in the male. The tail-feathers are 
more broadly tipped with yelloYvish beneath as a rule. 
Young birds of the year have the feathers of the head edged whitish, and the yellow of the throat less in extent and 
more clearly defined from the hue of the chest. 
Ohs. Until the publication of Dr. Jerdon’s great Yvork on Indian birds this species held rank as a peculiar Ceylonese 
form. It was discoY’^ered by Kelaart, and forwarded by him to Blyth, Yvith, it appears, the suggested name of 
penicillata. It was described by Blyth, loe. cit., and placed among the Ceylonese local forms. Jerdon, however, 
included the species in his ‘Birds of India’ on the evidence of a specimen from the south of the peninsula, of which 
he YYTites as follows : — “ I believe that this Ceylon bird is identical with one procured by me from the Mysore 
country, beloYv the Nilghiris, which was accidentally dosiroyed before I had taken a description; but I had a 
coloured sketch drawn, from which I briefly described it in my ‘ Supplement Cat. Birds of South India.’ ” I’rom 
that time until the present no second example has, to my knowledge, ever been procured ; and Mr. Hume, ev’en 
has no record of its occurrence in South India. I therefore include it in this Yvork among the birds “ peculiar to 
Ceylon.” Its slight differences from Txos entitle it to generic rank ; and it forms the second genus only peculiar 
to the island, Plioeneophaes being the first. 
Distribution .— handsome Bulbul is a hill species, and more exclusively confined to the upper regions 
than any of our “peculiar-” birds, with the exception of Stoparola sordida. It is abundant in all the 
higher parts of the Central Province, from the altitude of Horton Plains and the Nuwara-Elliya plateau to 
about 3500 feet, at which elevation it is common in the Kandyan and other western districts. In Uva, however. 
