254 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 



tiphia, Linn. S. N. (ex icone Edw. 79=Ficed. bengalensis. Briss. iii. 

 p. 484. e Bengal.). Figuier vert et jaune, Buff. Sylvia zeylonica $ , 

 Lath. Iora scapularis, Horsf.Jav. Linn. Trans. Kin. p. 151. Turdus 

 scapularis, Raffl, Sumatr. ib. p. 311. 



Descr. — Var. viridis £ (Calcutta 28 Febr. testic. parvis) superne 

 e fronte- ad caudam flavescenti- viridis, opacus, uropygio fronteque 

 paullo magis flavo tinctis. Plumse dorsi basi cinereas medio obsolete 

 albse. Capitis latera cum orbitis, totumque gastrseum flava, hypo- 

 chondriis olivaceo tinctis. Alse nigrse, tectricibus majoribus apice 

 pure albis, unde fasciae 2 albse ; carpi margo flavus. Remiges cubi- 

 tales latius flavo, primaries tenuissime albo marginatse. Cauda pure 

 nigra, pennis 2 mediis totis, reliquis margine apicis virescentibus. 

 Pedes nigricantes. Iris fusca. Long. 5y poll. Extensio alarum 

 7 poll. Ala 60 mill., cauda 51, tarsus 18, rostrum e fronte 15. — 

 $ (Calcutta 28 Febr.) similis mari, sed differt coloribus minus di- 

 stinctis. Cauda tota olivacea, viridi marginata, transversim undato- 

 micans, pennis utrinque 2 margine interiori tenui, virescenti, definite 

 Venter sordide flavus ; alse fusco-nigrse fasciis albis flavo inquinatis. 

 Mensuras ut maris. (Fcemina 7 Febr. et in medio Martii huic simil- 

 lima.) 



Var. superne nigra e Java Mus. Gyll., ex " Ind. Or." Mus. Stockh. 

 (veris <$). Superne atra, nitida, plumis obtecta albis et flavis. Uro- 

 pygium olivaceum. Capitis latera cum orbitis, collum antice totum- 

 que pectus flavissima, abdomen album. Alse et cauda ut <£ supra descr. 

 Ala 63—66 mill. 



Generica. — Rostrum rectum validum crasse subulatum, subteres, 

 longit. -| capitis, apice superiore inciso, vix deflexo, vixque longiori. 

 Vibrissse fere nullae. Nares nudse, membrana angusta, fornicata. 

 Alae breves, rotundatse, remigibus 4 — 6 sequalibus, cubitales parum 

 superantibus. Cauda mediocris, sequalis, integra. Pedes mediocres, 

 scutati, pollice fere longit. dig. medii. 



All the specimens I saw were of a green colour, and I am not 

 aware that individuals of a black colour from Bengal have been 

 described. The black specimens of Java which I have seen have 

 not shown any dissimilarity that would warrant their separation 

 into two species. Common as this bird was, I did not shoot any 

 after the middle of March, nor have I noted down whether I saw 

 any after that time. In February they seemed already paired, 

 and when I shot the above- described male without killing it im- 

 mediately, it remained hanging on a branch, and the hen-bird 

 came directly and tried to help it up with its beak. As a matter 

 both of feeling and of science, I was now induced to make their 

 fidelity eternal by another shot. From the above-described ana- 

 tomical proportion one is led to believe that this male was young, 

 and that it was its mother which intended to assist it ; but in 

 that neighbourhood I found none but these two, which I had ob- 

 served for more than an hour. In attitude and actions this bird 

 resembles more a Fringilla, for example the Bulfinch. It hops 



