546 
ACEOCEPHALUS DEMETOEUM. 
lar as Ceylon is concerned) is a cool-season visitant to the island, arriving usually in Octoher, but some 
seasons not appearing about Colombo until the beginning of November. It is found throughout the entire 
low country, being very numerous in the north and in all the west of the island. It inhabits the Jaffna 
peninsula and adjacent islands, as well as Manaar, in great numbers, and about Colombo it is very common. 
In tlie Central Province it ranges up to 4500 feet, at which height I have seen it at Catton, in Haputale, inha- 
biting there patnas and coffee-estates ; above 2500 feet it is not very frequent in any part but Uva j but lower 
than this, in Dumbara and portions of the western districts of similar altitude to that valley, it is almost as 
common as in the low country. Its time of departure varies according to season ; during some years I have 
seen it at Colombo as late as the 15th of April; but I should say all leave the island, at the latest, before the 
25th of that month. Mr. Hume remarks that they leave the plains of India after the end of March ; but I 
conclude that they remain somewhat later than this in some parts ; in fact Captain Butler says it does not quit 
the Mt. Aboo and Deesa districts until the middle of April. 
In the cool season (namely, from September until April) it is found throughout India, more or less, inha- 
biting such districts as are suitable to its habits. Jerdon writes that it is found in the Nilghiris and on the 
west coast, and also in the Carnatic, Central India, and Bengal ; it likewise, he says, extends into Assam ; but 
it does not migrate southwards into Burmah, if we may take the experience of naturalists who have lately 
collected there. It breeds in the Himalayas and Cashmere, whither it retires after its season’s residence in 
more southerly latitudes, and inhabits these hills to an altitude of 7000 feet. In some parts of the north- 
west it is plentiful, as in Kattiawar ; in others it is rare, as in the Sambhur-lake district and in Sindh, from 
which latter place it has only lately been recorded by Mr. Blanford. In Chota Nagpur it is local, for Mr. Ball 
has only obtained it in Sirguja. About Calcutta he speaks of it as common, although Blyth wrote, many 
years ago, that it never was to be seen about the marshy salt lakes of that neighbourhood, among which the 
last species is common. Severtzoff found it in Turkestan ; but it does not seem to range to the eastward of 
that region, as Prjevalsky did not meet with it in Thibet or Mongolia. 
Habits. — Blyth’s Warbler frequents low and thick bushes, detached thickets, and bushy trees, even in the 
most public places, but never betakes itself (in Ceylon) to reeds or sedgy spots, although I have noticed it 
sometimes in clumps of bamboos overhanging streams. When it first arrives it takes up its quarters in some 
thickly-foliaged tree or dense bush, and there remains throughout most of the season ; and so regular is it in 
its habits, that I have perceived it for weeks from my windows, sallying out of the same tree to another close 
by, about the same hour every morning. It feeds on insects, whicli it procures among the branches and leaves 
of trees, attentively searching for them, and leisurely hopping about from twig to twig, now and then jerkin»- 
out a sudden “cUk,” reminding one of the note of the “ Wliitethroat ” in our hedges at home. It remain^ 
almost perpetually concealed from view, showing itself, when it does emerge from its stronghold, for a very 
short time. It commences to warble slightly in March ; and on one or two occasions I have seen it perched on 
the top of a bushy Suriah-tree in the Fort at Colombo, endeavouring to utter its love-notes, perhaps prepa- 
ratory to winging its way, in a few days, to far more temperate climes, where they develop into a fine and 
vigorous song. 
In India it seems to avoid reeds, in the same manner as in Ceylon. Blyth writes that it comes a good 
deal into gardens, frequenting pea-rows and the like. Mr. Adam noticed it hunting for insects among reeds, 
and says that after each hunt it perched well up on a reed and uttered its peculiar loud call. 
Nidijication . — This species breeds, as far as is known, not further south than the Himalayas. There, 
according to Indian observers, it nests along the banks of streams or in thick bushes near water, building, as 
noticed by Captain Hutton, a globulai nest of coarse dry grasses, lined with finer grass. The eggs are 
described by Mr. Hume as “ broad ovals, smooth and compact in texture, with little or no gloss ; they 
arc pure white, very thinly speekled with reddish and yellowish brown, the markings being most numerous 
towards the larger end.” Dimensions 0‘62 by 0'5 inch. 
Since the publication of Mr. Hume’s ‘ Nests and Eggs ’ in 1873, the late Mr. A. Anderson found this 
Warbler breeding in Upper Kumaon at elevations from 3000 to 6000 feet ; his experience corroborates that of 
