Its feet and legs are very powerful, and It never seems tired of hunting 
for Its food, which consists chiefly of ants. Its flight Is swift, but not 
sustained for long. I have occasionally seen It In small parties in com¬ 
pany, consisting of young birds with their parents, and on one occasion I 
met with a pair near the Maha Oya, Eastern Province, which were searching 
about a huge fallen tree trunk, running along Its horizontal surface as they 
would have climbed a standing tree. 
Its note is a weak trill, uttered In a high key and prolonged considera¬ 
bly; the voice of one bird Is Invariably answered by its mate If within 
hearing distance. 
NIDIFICATION 
I know nothing of the eggs of this species, but can state that in the 
hills it breeds in the beginning of the year, as I once found a nest at the 
Elk Plains in January. It was situated In a hole In rather a small limo, 
high up in a large tree, and the birds by their gestures appeared to have 
young. 
The bird in the foreground of the drawing represents a male shot at the 
Maha Oya, and the one in the background represents a female up-country bird 
killed at the Horton Plains. 
