ART. 16. 



BIRDS FROM NORTH CELEBES ^RILEY. 67 



As Meyer's original description of this rare and very distinct 

 species is in Dutch, it has been thought advisable to give a descrip- 

 tion in English : Head all round, including the f oreneck, dusky slate 

 blue; across the forehead and the superciliary as far as the posterior 

 border of the eye, a slightly brighter blue ; chin, feathers covering 

 the nostril, and lores, black; back and upper wing coverts, brownish 

 olive with a russet wash on the rump ; longer upper tail coverts and 

 upper surface of the tail, argus brown, rectrices shading at the tip 

 to sepia; remiges, chaetura drab, margined externally with raw 

 umber, the tertials wholly of that color; under wing coverts, breast, 

 abdomen, and crissum, ochraceous tawny, this color extending up 

 each side slightly beyond the roimded border of the blue of the 

 jugulum; remiges below, hair brown, bordered where they rest 

 against the sides of the body with cinnamon; under surface of tail, 



sepia. 



The female differs from the male in having the pileum deep 

 neutral gray; the frons and lores ochraceous buff, the ear coverts 

 and sides of neck lighter gray than the pileum and washed with 

 ochraceous buff, middle of throat and jugulum ochraceous buff. An- 

 other female (No. 251,927) in the collection has the pileum deep 



payne's gray. 



Young birds about the size of the parents, but m spotted plumage, 

 were taken November 1 and December 24r-27. One of these taken 

 December 27 already has a few blue feathers appearing on the 

 jugulum and a few feathers of the adult plumage appearing on the 

 chest. An immature male taken at Goenoeng Lehio January 14 has 

 nearly assumed the adult dress; the head is blue with only the chin 

 ochraceous buff and a few tawny spots on the forehead and along 

 the superciliary ; the back still has a few tawny blaxik-tipped feath- 

 ers, and the breast and abdomen a few narrow black spots. From 

 the above it will be seen that the males molt directly into the adult 

 plumage and at an early date after leaving the nest. 



In the quite extensive series of males in the collection there is little 

 variation in color; in some the blue is slightly lighter than others. 

 The principal variation seems to be in the width of the lighter blue 

 of the forehead and superciliary ; in some specimens it is quite exten- 

 sive on the forehead, while in others it is much reduced. 



The present species is closely related to Cyornis hyacintUna of 

 Timor and kiihni of Wetter in structure, but in coloration is unique 

 in the genus, so far as is known at present. 



