uniformly of a pale yellowish green, with a still lighter-coloured ring round the neck ; and the upper surface
of the tail exhibits a little blue. In the second year the head becomes of a fine bluish cast, with a yellow
collar round thè neck, when it becomes the P . cyanocephalus ; and in the third year the head of the male
becomes a most beautiful rich peach-blossom, shading off to the black ring into a soft azure blue. In the
third year the full plumage of the adult is acquired ; and each subsequent year, for some time, only adds to
its richness of colouring.”
Dr. Jerdon observes :—“ It frequents jungly districts in preference to the more open parts of the country,
but occurs in all the more richly wooded cultivated districts; and it generally visits those parts of the
country that are tolerably wooded during the rains. It usually breeds in the jungles ; but I have found its
nest in my own garden at Sangor.”
“ It has similar habits to the others, feeding on fruits and grains, which it picks off the standing corn
or, in the stubble-fields, off the ground. It is less noisy, and has a much more pleasant call, than P . torquatus.
Its flight is very swift, indeed much more so than in the last-named bird and P . alexandri. It breeds in
holes o f trees, from December to March, and has usually four white eggs.”
Mr. Holdsworth writes :—“ I have only met with this species in the southern parts of Ceylon, where it is
very destructive to the grain crops ; but it is also found at times 011 the lower hills generally. I have seen
a flock of fifty of these birds fly down one after another to a field of paddy, and each, biting off an ear of
the green corn, return to a neighbouring tree to devour the plunder ; and this has been repeated again and
again. The three species of Palceornis are constantly caged by the natives ; and few native dwellings are
without one or other of these favourite pets.” Mr. Vincent Legge, also writing from Ceylon, sayS
rosa is numerous from the low country up to the highest part of the Marowa-Korle, being found in the
greatest numbers in the intermediate hills.”
The large figure in the Plate is of the size of life.