PYCTOEHIS NASALIS. 
(THE BLACK-BILLED BABBLER.) 
(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 
CliTysoniifiKi sinensis, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 150. no. 860, spec, c (1849) ; Kelaart 
& Layard, Prodromus, App. p. 58 (1853) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 185b, xii. 
p. 27 k 
Pyctorliis sinensis, Jerdon, B. of Ind. ii. p. 15 (1863, in pt.) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 448 ; 
Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 290. 
Pyctorhis nasalis, Legge, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1879, iii. p. 169. 
Batitchia, Sinhalese. 
Similis P. smensi, sed saturatior, et remigibus baud rufo marginatis, supercilio albo longiore et naribus nigris nec flavis 
distinguenda. 
Adult male and female. Length 6-2 to 7-0 inches, average about 6-5 ; wing 2-5 to 2-85 ; tail variable, extreme length 
about 3-5, centre feathers 1'25 longer than the outermost; tarsus 0'05 to 1-1 ; middle toe with its claw 0-85 ; 
bill to gape 0-65 to 07. The average length of wing is 2'6 ; the limit above given relates to an exceptionally 
Large specimen shot in IJva. 
Iris golden yellow ; eyelid chrome-yellow ; loral skin, which is perceptible through the feathers, greenish yellow ; bill 
and nostril black*; legs and feet dull yellow, extremities of toes dusky ; claws dusky horn-colour. 
Above ruddy earth-brow, the head darker than the hind neck; wings brown, the primaries at the base only edpd out- 
wardly with niddy brown, elsewhere with greyish ; wing-coverts concolorous with the bases of the primaries ; tail 
greyish brown, the feathers edged pale ; lores, a conspicuous supercilium, throat, and under surface white ; the 
flanks, lower parts, and under tail-coverts tinged with buff ; under wing-coverts buff-white. 
Some examples, probably immature birds, are more deeply tinged on the lower parts than others, and some have a 
browmish spot immediately below the gape. 
Ohs. A comparison of a series of Pyctorhis sinensis from various parts of continental India, with a number of Ceylonese 
specimens of the species, which has hitherto been united with it, induced me to separate the latter as a subspecies 
or local race, differing in the absence of both the yellow nostril and the reddish wing-coloration from its Indian 
congener. Examples from Kamptee, Kattiawar, Behar, Nepal, N.W. Himalayas, and the North-west Provinces 
have a smaller eye-stripe and the upper surface of a ruddier hue than our bird ; the head, in particular, displays 
this character ; some specimens (Futteghur and Kattiawar) are more sandy than others, and have the rump and 
tail-feathers markedly pale. A Bhotan-Doars example, however, differs from all others I have seen in being very- 
dark on the head and back ; in all, the outer webs of the quills, except near the tips, are dull cinnamon-ied, and 
the coverts are chestnut-brown, that is, not quite so red as the quills. The nostril membrane is deep yellow, 
while that of the Ceylonese race is as black as the bill ; and this singular character forms, perhaps, the chief 
distinction between the birds of the tw-o localities. As regards size, the Indian bird appears to measure some- 
what less in the wing (2-35 to 2-6) and more in the tail (3-3 to 3-7 inches). 
I hav-e not had the opportunity of extending my examination to specimens from the south of India; and, in so far as I 
have not done this, I still consider my determination of the Ceylonese species as pecnliar to the island open to 
correction. It may be that the race inhabiting the extreme south resembles the Ceylonese in coloration more 
closely than does that from continental India ; but I have not yet seen any peculiarity in the colour of the nostril 
spoken of by recent observers. Blyth, in the first mention of the Ceylonese race which he received from Layard, 
says, “ less rufous variety from Ceylon;” but in this he compares it with specimens from Lower Bengal. 
Distribution. The Black-hilled Babbler is widely distributed throughout the island, particularly as regards 
the southern half ; hut at the same time it is a local bird, being altogether absent from some parts, while it is 
tolerably common in others. Commencing with the Western Province, it is not uncommon in the sedgy 
