276 MUSCICAPID.E. 



a nuchal patch black ; wing-coverts like the back ; quills and tail- 

 feathers blackish, externally washed with blue ; sides of face and 

 entire throat rich azure-blue, with a black collar across the fore 

 neck ; rest of under surface greyish purple, overlying the dull white 

 on the breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts ; thighs purplish ; 

 under wing-coverts greyish purple overlying the white like the 

 flanks ; quills black below, ashy along the inner web ; " bill blackish 

 blue ; iris dark brown " {Everett)*. Total length 5-8 inches, culmen 

 0"5, wing 2-7, tail 2-6, tarsus 0"6. 



Adult female. Differs from the male as does the female of H. 

 azurea : i. e. it has the back brown, with the head duU azure, the 

 black nape-spot being absent. It is of a darker brown than the 

 female of H. azurea, and has the whitish abdomen overspread with 

 a shade of bluish grey. 



06s. It will be a matter of opinion whether this is really a distinct 

 species, or whether it should be considered merely a race of H. 

 azurea. Specimens from the same locality vary considerably as 

 regards the white on the abdomen ; some of them have this part 

 blue, but paler than the breast. Those which exhibit this character 

 in the most marked degree are the birds from the Andamans — Hy- 

 pothymis tytJeri (Beavan) ; but on this point see Mr. Hume's careful 

 observations (S. F. 1874, p. 217). He finds that the majority of 

 the Andaman birds are different from the Indian, but that occa- 

 sionally they show more or less of an approach to the latter. This 

 is exactly my experience with regard to the Indo-Malayau indivi- 

 duals ; and certainly those from Flores are whiter below than usual ; 

 they also occasionally want the nape-spot and prtepectoral collar. 



I may here add a word as to my reason for applying the name of 

 azurea to the Indian bird instead of to the Philippine, as Muscicapa 

 azurea, Bodd., is founded on the " Gobe-mouches bleu des Philip- 

 pines "' of Daubenton's plate. As the white belly is the character hy 

 which the two species are distinguished, and as this is shown clearly 

 in the plate, I have adopted it, believing that the locality assigned 

 is erroneous. The description mentions a slight shade of blue on the 

 underparts ; but this is also seen in the Indian bird. Those ornitho- 

 logists who prefer the correctness of the locality to that of the 

 drawing, must adopt the name of Hypothymis caruleocephala (Sykes) 

 for the Indian species. 



Hub. Andaman and Nicohar Islands, Malayan peninsula, Java, 

 Sumatra, Borneo, Philippine Islands, Formosa. 



«. cJ ad. sk. Port Blair, S. Andamans, July 9, R. B. Sharps, Esq. [P.]. 



1S73 {Capt. Wimberley). 

 b. cJ ad. sk. Malacca. A. R. Wallace, Esq. [C.]. 



* The above soft parts are from a Bornean skin. Mr. Everett procured four 

 specimens in the island of Luzon, and gives the following notes {cf. Tweeddale, 

 P. Z. S. 1877, p. 693) : — Male. Iris chocolate-brown : hill blue, tip black ; inte- 

 rior of gape pale yellow-green ; legs lead-blue ; nails black. Female. Iris dark 

 chocolate-brown ; bill and nails black ; legs dark grey. 



