578 
PACHTGLOSSA VINCENS. 
P. melamxaniha (figured in ‘ The Ibis,’ 1874, pi. 1) is a rare species and larger than P. vincens, measuring in the wing 
2'80 inches : the proportion of the quills differs slightly from that of the Ceylonese bird, the 1st quill being 
slightly shorter. The coloration is much the same as regards its distribution ; but the sides of the throat are blackish 
slate, contracting the white into a broad stripe ; the under tad-coverts also are yellow, like the breast and abdomen. 
Distribution . — When this little bird was brought to the notice of the scientific world by Dr. Sclater in 
the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ’ in 1872, the credit of its discovery was given to myself, as the 
specimens which I had sent him from the south of Ceylon were considered to be the first ever procured. 
Mr. Hugh Cuming, however, a well-known collector of Ceylonese birds, had, as noticed by Mr. Holdsworth 
in ' The Ibis ’ for 1874, brought home a male of this species, which was, I conclude, overlooked among the 
skins acquired from him by the British Museum, and was not identified until after its rediscovery by myself 
nearly thirty years afterwards. I am glad, therefore, to be able to give the true history of its discovery to 
my Ceylon readers, and ensure the credit of it being given to Mr. Cuming. 
It is, as far as we know, essentially a bird of the heavy rainfall districts. My first specimens were 
procured in 1871 in the Kottowe forest near Galle, where it is abundant. I subsequently found it in other 
jungles adjacent to this one, in the fine timber-reserves near Oodogamma, on the south bank of the Giudurah, 
and in the Kukkul Korale, more particularly in the Singha-Bajah or Lion-king forest. Thence northward its 
range e.xtends into Saffragam, where I obtained it in the Kuruwite Korale, in the lower Peak jungles, and 
saw it even as far north as Avisawella. Mr. Bligh shot, in 1873, a fair number of specimens in Kotmalie, 
to wbich district, lying at the base of the western slopes of the main range, it must extend through Maskeliya 
and Dimbulla, in both of which valleys it will doubtless some day be found. Its habitat is, I suspect, limited 
to the damp forest region, consisting of the south-west of the island, the southern coffee-districts, Saifragam, 
and the western portion of the Central Province as above indicated. It may perhaps be found in Uva, but 
will not, I should say, extend into the low country of the Eastern Province. 
Habits . — I subjoin here the following extract from my notes on this Flowerpecker contained in the 
Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Asiatic Society for 1873 “ It dwells exclnsively in high jungle (the 
"Mnkalaney’ of the Sinhalese), and afiPects the leaves and smaller branches of moderately sized trees, but 
more particularly the luxurious creeper Freycinetia anyustifolia, a species of Pandanus, which grows so 
plentifully in the southern forests, entwining and clothing the stately trunks so completely that they have, 
in the distance, the appearance of ivy-clad columns. It associates in small flocks, which, when this plant 
is in fruit, may be seen feeding on its seeds. Its movements are most active, now hovering for an instant 
over a flower, now clinging 'tit-like’ to the underside of some chosen sprig. . . . Although it usually 
takes but short flights in the jungle, from tree to tree, its powers of locomotion are considerable, and at times 
it may be seen darting across openings in the forest from one belt to another. Its note is a weak tze-tze-tze, 
somewhat resembling that of the Long-tailed Tit of Europe {Acredula caudata), and which is scarcely audible 
on a stormy day amidst the soughing of the wind through the forest trees. It is generally uttered in concert 
by the flock when searching together for food.” I observed that in the Singha-Rajah forest it frequented 
the flowers of the Bowittiya plant [Osbeckia virgata), but whether in search of insects or not I was unable to 
ascertain.- The stomachs of nearly all the specimens I have procured contained succulent matter, evidently 
extracted from fruit and seeds j and I therefore suspect that it is almost entirely fmgivorous. It does not 
always confine itself to low situations in the forests, for I have met with it in flocks frequenting the tops of 
the loftiest trees in the Oodogamma timber-jungles. 
The breeding-season, I imagine, must be during the south-west monsoon, for the organs of examples 
killed in both June and August testified to their nidification being carried on during that period. It is 
probable that this bird builds somewhat similarly to its Nepalese congener, which, says Hodgson, " makes an 
ingenious pendulous nest.” 
The figures in the Plate accompanying this article are those of a male and female from the southern 
forests. 
