BAZA CEYLON E NS IS 
(THE CEYLONESE CRESTED FALCON) 
ADULT MALE AND YOUNG BIRD 
Length to front of cere from skin 16.5 inches; culmen from cere 1.01; 
w ing 11.7; tail 7.5; tarsus 1.5; middle toe 1.35; claw (straight) .65; height, 
of bill at cere .4; tarsus feathered to .5 from the root of middle toe* 
DISTRIBUTION AND DISCOVERY 
Thin interesting Crested Falcon was described by me from two adult exam¬ 
ples which I found in the collection of Messrs White and Co., naturalists in 
Kandy, in August 1876. They were both shot on the same day by Mr F.H.Da¬ 
vidson of Matale, on the Kudupolella estate. In May of the same year, how¬ 
ever, I had met with an immature specimen (the one now in the Norwich mu¬ 
seum) at Mr Bligh’s bungalow, and identified it from Mr Sharpe’s plate in 
the ’Catalogue of birds’, as Baza Sumatrensis. This example was therefore 
the first that came under my notice; it was shot in the early part of 1875 
by a Mr Colville, near Nilambe, in the Kandy district, and preserved in 
Messrs White’s establishment. It would appear that it has only oeen procu¬ 
red within the very limited district stretching from Matale ten miles North 
of Kandy, to Deltotte, about twelve miles in a direct line to the South of 
that town. 
This part of the hill region of Ceylon, it should be remarked* is that in 
which most of the birds are shot that are sent to Messrs White for preser¬ 
vation, inasmuch as they can be forwarded by coolie runners, and skinned be¬ 
fore suffering from the decomposing effects of the tropical heat; it is not 
therefore to be-Inferred from this that the habitat of the Ceylon Baza is 
restricted to such a very small tract of country as this, but rather that it 
is a hill bird scattered throughout the sub-ranges of the Central Province, 
although it has not yet been recorded beyond the vicinity of the Kandyan 
capital. 
HABITS 
I am unable to furnish any information concerning the habits of this spe¬ 
cies, beyond that I learn it frequents the borders of forests, the vicinity 
of steep wooded hill faces, and patinas interspersed with jungle. When 
killed it has doubtless been met with in such localities; but as a rule it 
will be found, like its congeners, to be a forest loving species. 
The front figure in the drawing is the adult male bird killed at Matale, 
and that in the background the young bird sent by Messrs White to the Bri¬ 
tish Museum. 
