PRIONOCHILUS VINCENS, Seiater.

Legre’s F lower-pecker.

Prionochilus vincens, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 730.— Holdsworth, tom. cit. p. 483.

 

Tue present species is a very interesting bird, occurring, as it does, in the island of Ceylon. In the Malayan
archipelago the genus Prionochilus is plentifully represented ; and in India it may also be said to be present,
as the bird called Piprisoma ague is scarcely distinguishable from the genus Prionochilus. But it is not
among the Malayan species that we must look for the ally of the Ceylonese Prionochilus, the bird which it
most resembles being in fact the Yellow-bellied F lower-pecker of Nepal, the Pachyglossa melanoxantha of
Hodgson, which, on examination, turns out to be a true Prionochilus, and should stand as Prionochilus
melanowanthus.

The present species is named after Captain Vincent Legge, R.A., a gentleman celebrated not only for
the ornithological discoveries in Ceylon, but for the very excellent and complete work on the avifauna of that
country, which he is now publishing. In a letter addressed to me from Trincomalee in Noy. 1872, he writes
as follows :—* As I have learnt from Dr. Sclater that you intend to figure my little bird, Prionochilus DINCENS,
I thought it advisable to send you some leaves of the creeper which it frequents so much, and ‘ pecking’
the flowers of which I discovered it at first, I enclose the leaves, the colour of which, when in life, is dull
leaf-green ; they grow on the long tendrils which encircle the trunks of the tall straight forest-trees at
intervals of about an inch. The creeper itself clothes the trunk of the tree completely, much more so than
ivy does, giving the appearance of a beautiful column of vegetation. The flower of the plant is of a yellowish
red, and is a thick seedy substance, somewhat resembling the marigold flower. The little birds may be
seen in flocks of from ten to fifteen in one tree, twisting and turning themselves about these flowers and
clinging to them back downwards with the active movements peculiar to the family. I[ have lately traced it
up to some little-known ranges of hills in the southern province, at an elevation of 2500 feet; but it is quite
confined to the forests of the southern part of Ceylon, and is therefore, as regards its island distribution,
extremely local. Its little note, ‘ ésee-tsee,’ is scarcely audible when the wind is high, the noise of the
moving branches almost drowning it.”

The following is a copy of Captain Legge’s original description :— |

“ Male. Length 43's inches; tail 1-2; wing 2°3; tarsus 0°5; mid toe with claw 0°5, hind toe 25; bill to

gape 20, at front nearly 0-4. Third primary longest, slightly longer only han second.
: ““ Description. Iris reddish ; bill, upper mandible black, lower mandible lightish at the base ; legs and
feet blackish brown ; entire head (except the chin and throat), hind neck, back, rump, and lesser wing-
coverts dull steel-blue, palest on the rump, and with the bases of the feathers dark ; quills blackish brown,
the basal portion of inner webs, with the under wing-coverts, white ; tertiaries, greater wing-coverts, and
tail black, the former edged with the hue of the upper surface, the latter with the three ones feathers
white towards the tip, the colour extending a little up the sualt on the inner web, Ne next two with a small
terminal white spot ; chin, throat, and chest white, below which the under surface is saflron-yellow, paling
at the vent; under tail-coverts white, edged pale yellow.

“ Female. Length 4-1 inches; wing 235; tail 1-1. Bill slightly lighter in hue than that of the male ; legs,
feet, and iris the same as in the male ; head and hind neck faded bluish ashen, i of feathers dark back
olivaceous brown ; secondaries and wing-coverts brown, edged with oreo — lighter than in the
male; sides of neck and chest ashy beneath, paler yellow than in the male, mingled with grey on the flanks ;
tail brownish black.” : ,

[ am indebted to Dr. Sclater for the loan of the typical specimens of the present species, which he lent
me before returning them to the owner. The Plate represents two males and a female, of the size of life ;

: ; eee was not adapted for illustration.
but T regret that the plant spoken of by Capt. Legge was not adaj