11. I REN A. 267 



of neck, mantle, and scapulars deep velvety black ; lower back and 

 rump dull purplish cobalt, much brighter on the upper tail-coverts ; 

 wings black, the lesser and median series purplish cobalt, the greater 

 series black, tipped with the same cobalt, the innermost, as well as 

 the inner secondaries, externally of the same colour ; tail black, 

 shaded with purple on the centre feathers and the outer webs of the 

 others ; lores, feathers above and round the eye, throat, and fore 

 neck deep velvety black, the rest of the under surface dull piirple, 

 the under tail-covei'ts bright purplish cobalt ; under wing-coverts 

 dull purple ; bill black ; legs black ; iris carmine. Total length 

 10 inches, culmen 1-05, wing 4-8, tail 4-1, tarsus 0-7. {Coll. J. B. 

 Steer e.) 



Hah. Island of Basilan, Philippines. 



3. Irena turcosa. 



Irena puella. Hnrxf. in Linn. Trans, xiii. p. 15.3 ; id. Zool. Research, 

 in Java, Birds, pis. 13, 14 ; Steph. Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. 2, p. 142, 

 pi. 48 : Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 288; Cab. Mus. Hein. Th. i. p. 110. 



Edolius puelhis, Temm. PI. Col. pis. 70, 476, 225. 



Irena turcosa, Walden, Ann. N. II. (4) v. p. 417. 



Adult male. General arrangement of colour as in /. puella ; but 

 the blue is of a turquoise shade, inclining to silver)^ cobalt on 

 the head ; under tail-coverts reaching a little beyond the tip of the 

 tail. Total length 8-5 inches, culmen 1*1, wing 4-95, tail 3-6, 

 tarsus 0-8. 



Hab. Java. 



a. Ad. St. [Java.] Hon. E.I. Company [P.]. 



h. Juv. sk. Java. Secretary of State for India [P.]. 



4. Irena criniger. 



Coracias puella, Raffl. Tr. Linn. Sac. xiii. p. 302 (nee Lath.). 



Irena puella (nee Lath.), Motley ^ Dillw. N. Hist. Labuan, p. 23 ; Scl. 



P. Z. S. 1863, p. 217. 

 Irena cyanea, Salvad. Ucc. Bom. p. 151 (nee Bef/hie). 

 Irena turcosa, Sharpe, Ibis, 1876, p. 44 (nee Wald.). 



Achtlt male. Blue and black, as in /. puella, the distribution of 

 colours being the same ; the hue of the blue colour intense cobalt, 

 very rich on the head ; the under tail-coverts produced to the very 

 end of the tail, the upper coverts also nearly as far ; bill and legs 

 black ; iris red. Total length 9-3 inches, culmen 0-95, wing 4-6, 

 tail 3-25, tarsus 0-6.5. 



Adult female. Differs from the male exactly as does the female 

 of /. puAla from the male. 



Ohs. Sumatran birds seem to be exactly the same as the Bornean, 

 a pair from Mr. Wallace's collection measuring as follows : — 

 Total 

 length. Culmen. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. 



