MALACOCEECUS STEIATUS. 
495 
the lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts ; the feathers of the chest are pale-centred. This species varies 
from 3-9 to 4-2 inches in the wing. 
Jf. griseus has been said by Blyth to have been found in Ceylon ; but his remark, contained in Kelaart’s ‘ Prodromus,’ 
does not seem to refer to it, as he says the head is concolorous with the rest of the upper surface ; whereas in 
this species the head is very pale grey, and the throat dark brown and grey ; the quills and tail are very dark 
towards the tips of the feathers. The wing of a Decean specimen measures 3-8 nearly. 
Distribution . — The “ Dust-bird,” or “ Dung-Thrush,” as it is commonly called in Ceylon, is found 
throughout the whole low country from the Jaffna peninsula and north-west coast, where it is very abundant, 
down both sides of the island to the extreme south. It is more numerous in low scrub or open bushy plains 
and in cultivated districts than in the wilds of the forest tracts j but it is so universally distributed that it may 
chance to be found anywhere. It ascends, on the northern side of the Kandyan Province, into Dumbara and 
all the district round the hill-capital, but does not range in that district above 3000 feet, at which it is 
not very common. In Uva and the great patna-basin between Port MacDonald and Haputale it is not 
unfrequeiit as high as 4500 and 5000 feet. Kelaart records it in his list of Nuwara-Elliya birds ; but neither 
Mr. Holdsworth nor Mr. Bligh have ever observed it there ; although it might find its way in the dry season 
up the Hakgala pass, on the lower part of which, about Wilson’s Bungalow, I have myself seen it. 
It is found in the island of Ramisserum and on the adjoining mainland of India; but how far it extends 
northward in the Madras Presidency I am unable to say. 
Habits . — The number of popular names (some of them by no means euphonious) which are bestowed upon 
this bird amply testify to the familiar acquaintance which Europeans have with it. It is, perhaps, the best 
known of all our feathered friends, save the impudent little Sparrow — as much at home in the tropics as in 
England — and the Common Bulbul, which enlivens every compound in the suburbs of Colombo ; it is, in fact, 
found in every variety of situation, from the grounds of the English bungalow to the wilds of the interior, 
evincing no fear whatever of man, and from its habit of dusting itself by the sides of roads and in the most 
public situations it bas acquired one of its best-known names. Its extreme sociability, causing it to associate 
in a little flock of a certain number, generally six or seven, has given it another of its sobriquets, " The Seven 
Brothers,” and is the most interesting feature in its economy, bringing out in a striking manner the curious 
habits of which it is possessed. The anties which these little troops perform, often a few yards from the 
verandah of a bungalow, are well known to the most casual observer, and are best described, to those who 
have never seen it in a state of nature, by saying that, when performing them, these singular birds exhibit all 
the symptoms of being charged with electricity ! While two or three jump to and fro on the dusty road, 
shooting out their wings and twitching their tails from side to side, several more, who are perehed on the 
branches above, peer down on their comrades with no little interest, uttering a scarcely audible whistling, and 
then suddenly commence a spasmodic series of springs and up-dartings of the wings and tail, jumping round 
on their perches, and uttering loud screams, until, at a given signal, all is silence and repose. On being 
alarmed, the whole flock decamp, each bird scudding along after its mate to the next tree, where the same 
performances are again repeated. It is a systematic bird in its movements. I noticed, while living at Colombo, 
that a troop, which inhabited the Queen’s-house Gardens, sallied out, and joui-neyed by degrees along an 
adjacent row of Suriah-trees at the same hour every day, and that they were peculiarly lively after a shower of 
rain. Its food is entirely insectivorous, and is mostly taken by scratching among leaves and debris on the 
ground. The cinnamon-gardens at Colombo are a favourite resort of these birds ; they delight in the leafy 
Cadju-trees {Anacardium occidentale) , which afford them shade during the heat of the day, while the thick 
bushes are an immediate shelter when they are disturbed while seeking their sustenance on the ground. 
Plantations of young cocoanuts are never without these flocks of Dust-birds, which delight in the grand 
platforms afforded them for their dances by the broad fronds of these graceful palms. 
Layard writes as follows of this bird : — “ They are always seen in small parties varying from three to seven, 
according to the number of young ones in a nest, which seem to remain with their parents until the period of 
incubation again commences, when they separate to form families of their own. When alarmed, an old bird 
utters a piping note, making several prodigious hops, and takes to flight ; his example is followed by all the 
rest in succession, and the whole party wing their way in a long file, alternately beating the air with heavy 
strokes, or sailing along on their rounded wings to a place of safety.” 
