Bolgodole measure 24·1 × 18·0 mm. and 23·3 × 17·9 mm. Two taken for me by Mr. W. A. T. Kellow measure 24·2 × 18·1 mm. and 24·0 × 17·8 mm. They cannot be distinguished from those of striatus.
Habits. The Ceylonese Babbler seems to be a bird of the forest and jungle rather than a frequenter of village scrub and open country. Mr. W. Phillips informs me that it is not uncommon in the Matagama district but that it keeps much to forest.
(190) Turdoides cinereifrons.
The Ashy-headed Babbler.
- Garrulax cinereifrons Blyth, J. A. S. B., xx, p. 176 (1851) (Ceylon).
- Crateropus cinereifrons. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 114.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Forehead, crown and sides of the head cinereous, shading off on the nape into the bright reddish brown which is the colour of the whole upper plumage, tail and visible portions of the wings, except the outer webs of the first few primaries which are paler; chin whitish; remainder of lower plumage rufous-brown, darker on the flanks and under tail-coverts.
Colours of soft parts. Iris white; eyelid plumbeous; bill black; inside of mouth greenish yellow; legs and feet plumbeous brown; claws dusky-horuy (Legge).
Measurements. Length about 250 to 260 mm.; wing 121 to 128 mm.; tail about 105 to 110 mm.; tarsus 38 mm.; culmen about 20 to 22 mm.
Distribution. Ceylon only, up to about 2,500 feet.
Nidification. Unknown.
Habits. This bird is a typical Babbler in its noisy, gregarious habits, but it is confined to dense forests where it is always damp and gloomy.
Genus ARGYA Lesson, 1831.
This genus differs from Turdoides in its longer tail and in its longer, more slender bill. The wing also is not so rounded, the third quill being longest or subequal with the fourth. The tail is longer and more graduated, the outermost feathers being about half the length of the central ones. Argya longirosiris has a bill longer than the other species but is otherwise congeneric.
Key to Species and Sidispecies.
| A. |
Head and back distinctly streaked with blackish or very dark brown.
|
| a. |
Chin and throat rufous with dark shaft-stripes
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|
A. earlii, p. 197. |
