A singular theory obtains among the Sinhalese with reference to this spe¬ 
cies and the Pitta or Ground Thrush. They have a tradition that Buddha in 
former times, changed some of the spotted thrushes into Pittas,, a bird which 
they likewise style "Avitohia", and they believe that these beautiful birds 
are the progeny of the spotted thrush, asserting that the young of both spe¬ 
cies are to be found in the nest of this latter bird. The fact of the Pit¬ 
ta being migratory and appearing in the island suddenly no doubt is the 
cause of this imaginative mode of accounting for its arrival. 
NIDIFICATION 
I have found this bird nesting in the. Northern forests near Trincomalie 
in January, and I obtained a nestling in Uva in September. Mr Me Vicar has 
taken its eggs at Kaesbawa, near Colombo in may; The breeding season, there¬ 
fore, extends over the first half of the year. The nest is placed in the 
fork of a sapling a few feet from the ground, or among the roots of a tree 
on a bank or little eminence, and is a loose looking, though really compact¬ 
ly put together structure of small twigs, roots, moss, and grass, lined with 
finer materials of the same, the egg cavity being a deep cup, tolerably 
neatly finished off. 
The eggs are two or three in number, of a pale bluish green ground, freck¬ 
led throughout with light reddish brown, or light red and reddish grey, over 
a few lilac spots at the obtuse end, the markings in some being confluent at 
that portion; they are regular ovals in shape, measuring from 1.06 to 1.17 
inches in length, by .74 to . 77 in breadth. 
The figure on the left hand of the drawing is that of a male shot on the 
Sittawak Ganga, a large affluent of the Kelani Ganga. 
