530 
DEYMCEOA INSULAllIS. 
being paler than even a summer example o£ the latter, it is 0'37 inch longer in the tail and a trifle shorter, 
notwithstanding, in the wing ; the eye-stripe is not so conspicuous and the bill is paler, the ground-colour of the 
fail darker beneath, with the blackish subtenninal bars not so conspicuous. Another example of Sykes’s measures 
2'15 in the wing and 2-9 in the tail. As our bird, therefore, cannot be united to D. inornatus, it remains to be 
seen whether it is the same as the species inhabiting the Nilghiris and Southern India generally, and which 
Mr. Hume says should stand as D. fusuus, Hodgson. The natural inference worild be that it is so ; but Mr. Hume 
points out that the Hilghiri bird is larger, and has not so slender a bill as the Ceylonese ; and I observe, further- 
more, that its eggs are marked with fine hair-lines or streaks, which is never the case, to my knowledge, noth the 
Ceylonese race, the eggs of which are always spotted openly with rather large blotches. I have therefore decided 
to separate our bird as an insular though closely allied race to the Deccan form, which, I have no doubt, will prove 
to be the same as the South-Indiau species, now styled D. fusais. 
Distribution . — This sprightly little bird is about equally common with Prinia socialis, being widely distri- 
buted throughout the low country, as well as an inhabitant of the Kandyan and Southern- Province hills up 
to an altitude of about 5000 feet. At this height it is to be found on patuas in Uva, Haputale, and the slopes 
of Northern Saffragam, in which I include the sides of the ranges from Haldamulla round to Ratnapuraj 
it also affects grassy spots and paddy and hill-grain fields in most of the upland valleys of the Central 
Province. In the Western Province it inhabits the Guinea- and Mauritius- grass fields in the neighbourhood 
of towns and villages, and in the interior is to be found in paddy-fields as soon as the grain is of sufficient 
length to afford it cover. In the Galle district I have often detected it in sugar-cane cxrltivation, and in the 
eastern and northern province it inhabits sedges and long grass in the beds of dried-up tanks. 
Habits . — This Warbler frequents grass-fields, tall paddy and other native cereals, and long grass or 
tussocky wastes of all kinds, such as are found in the dry beds of tanks, on open plains, or the sides of hill- 
patnas. It is an active little bird and generally found in pairs, which flit about the tall corn, alighting on, 
and clinging with ease to, the most pliant stalks, while they constantl^^ utter their repeated note, kink-kink~kink. 
Several pairs frequented the Guinea-grass near my quarters on the Galle face, and, together with the Ashy 
Wren- Warbler and the little Grass- Warbler, conduced to make the little field an interesting resort of small 
birds. I found it in great abundance in the bed of Hurulle tank, which, in the dry season, is a vast area of 
long grass ; to such large tracts as this, as w'ell as to extensive paddy-fields, it usually flocks for the time being, 
taking itself off again when its shelter is removed by fire, water, or the hand of the reaper. It consorts much 
with the Ashy Prinia, and at a distance is with difficulty distinguished from that species, except by its note. 
I have found the nests of both in close proximity to one another. It has a weak jerky flight, sustained for a 
short distance only, and it is insectivorous in diet, feeding on small catei’pillars, larvae, minute insects, &c. 
Nidification . — I have found the nest of this species in almost every month from February till November ; 
the prevailing time, however, in all parts of the island is from May until June, birds breeding in October and 
November being probabTy in the act of rearing a second brood. It builds its neat and cleverly-constructed 
nest between the tall stalks of paddy or other cultivated species of grass, about 3 feet from the ground. The 
egg-cavity is very deep for its width, for the better security of its contents, which are liable to be sw'ayed to 
and fro with the wind. The nest is sometimes dome-shaped, with the top forming a hood over the entrance^ 
which, in some instances, is neat and rounded, and in others wide and unfinished. Many, however, have an 
ingeniously made roof of the green blades of the supporting stalks, cleverly bent dowm and interlaced. The 
body of the nest is constructed of strips of green grass, generally sewn into the stalks at the bottom to form a 
secure foundation, the rest being woven round them to foi’m the walls; the lining consists of finer strips of 
grass, scantily arranged in some cases, so that the bottom can be plainly seen through. The interior usually 
measures 2 inches in width by 3 in depth. The eggs are almost invariably 4 in number, of a beautiful blue 
ground-colour, very handsomely though sparingly blotched with rich umber and sepia blotehes of two shades, 
which in some examples are gathered mostly round the larger end. They measure from O'G by 0’47 to 0-67 
by 0'49, and the period of their incubation is from 11 to 13 days. They are almost entirely hatched by the 
heat of the atmosphere in fine weather, the bird resoi’ting to the nest at sundown and leaving it again in the 
morning. 
The figure on the Plate accompanying this article is that of a male shot in July at Hurulle tank. 
