THE (.'AMI-: niliD!S OF INDIA. ;549 



Description — Adiilf Malt'. — Crown brown, tinged with olive, the 

 feathers next the bill unci over the eye next the bare orbital skin 

 dark brown, faintly glossed with green, chin and upper throat black; 

 neck, iipper breast and upper back deep velvet-black with broad edges 

 of deep steel blue, the black centres concealed, or merel}^ shewing on 

 the posterior parts as half hidden round spots; the blue of the upper 

 back sometimes descends on to the centre back, almost to the lower 

 back, and in all cases the chauge between the two colours is gradual, 

 patches of metallic blue occurring even on the lower back ; iutei-- 

 scapulars and back with iiame-coloured copper instead of green 

 edges ; lower back and rump steel blue, much paler in tint thxT,n the 

 back, and each feather with white edges and a white bar bordered 

 above and below with black ; upper tail coverts grey, faintly vermi- 

 culated with white and with an obsolete broken black bar across 

 the centre ; tail similarly vermiculated grey with bars of black, 

 more or less mottled with chestnut on the central pair of feathers, 

 and with a broad sub-terminal bar on the four outer pairs, increas- 

 ing in width towards the outermost ; two or three pairs of these 

 are also tipped with mottled white. Lesser wing coverts and median 

 wing coverts like the back, the former with a broad baud of white, nai- 

 rowl}- edged with steel blue and with bases of glossj' blue-black, and 

 the latter with a broad bar of black glossed with the same steel blue 

 as the rump ; greater coverts deep chestnut, those next the quills 

 with broad white edges and blue-black sub-edges, forming a third 

 double bar across the closed wing; primaries brown, edged chestnut, 

 secondaries entirely chestnut on the exposed portions except the 

 innermost, which have white tips with a narrow sub-terminal bar of 

 black. Lower breast like the upper back, gradually merging into 

 deep bright chestnut on the flanks and abdomen ; thighs and centre 

 of abdomen about vent mottled brown and chestnut; under tail 

 coverts black with a faint blue-green gloss. 



"Male. — Length 33-0 inches; expanse 26-0; tail (of six- 



"teen feathers) from vent 21; wing 8-6; tarsus 2-75; bill 



"from gape 1-3. Weight 2 lbs. G ozs. The legs, feet, claws 



" and spurs (the latter 0-85 length) all a pale delicate drab 



" brown ; the facial skin an intense crimson ; irides orange ; 



"bill greenish horny, dusky on cere and base of upper man- 



" dible. and pale yellowish horny towards the tip of both 



" mandibles." (Hume.) 



Measurement)}. — The small series 1 luue been able to examine or 



obtain measurements of, viz., 6 in the British Museum, 2 at Tring, 



and 3 in the Museum of the Natural Histoiy Society of Bombay, 



have measurements as follows: — Wing from 8-1" (205-7 mm.) to 



8-8" (223-5 mm.); tail from 15-8" (401-3 mm.) (a bird in very 



poor condition) to 21-5" (534-6 mm.); tarsus 2-3" (58-4 mm.) to 



2-6" (66-0 mm.); bill at front about M" (27-9 mm.), and from 



4 



